Southwest-sentinel., 1892-12-06
A SCOTCH TRADITION.
MERClLEss WARFARE or ONE or
THE OLD ccoTTlsH CLANS.

Aflouo OF mine MADE prolonged
tour Of Scotland last year to indulge In
his favorite pastimo-fshing- of which
there is none better in the whole world
than among the highlands and contigu-
ous islands Of that country. lie brought
back with him a vast storehouse Of the
strange tales Of the primitive people
among whom he so1ourned, for he avoid.
ed the usual lines Of travel. coufning
his wanderings 10 the remote villages
and out Of the way places which the or
dinary tourist never visits, He lived for
months with the peasant and fisherman
clnss, with whom, ingrstiaiing himself
into their good graces, he learned much
Of the traditions current in the region,
which have only been kept alive by
being handed down from father to son
through the generations.
At one time residing with a simple
fisherman on one Of the Hebrides, that
group made famous by the celebrated
tour Of DR.. johnson and Boswell, he was
told q strange story pertaining to a cave
on one Of the islands, which he after.
ward visited with his host, making the
weird tradition doubly interesting. II
Sas this:
More than three centuries ago there
xisted two clans between which there
ad waged the most bitter and relent.
less warfare for generations. OF course
the people Of both factions were but lit
tie more civilized than the North Amer
ican Indians when Columbus gave q
g.. IL
by stealing from their neighbors, de-
cidedly preferring this mode Of life to an
honest endeavor Of raising anything for
themselves. Their tenure Of the dark
glens which they claimed was held by
the prowess of their primitive bows aud
arrows, their rude claymOres and ruder
dirks. Ignorant, cruel and vindictive,
the several clans hated each other with
a hatred unknown but to dense igno-
rance; they hated simply because their
names differed, because they had been
taught that differences between names
meant feuds between races.
One Of these two contending clans
lived on one Of the little islands Of the
Hebridean group, a barren, rocky, desc
late spot, surrounded only by the eternal
surf. One mild winter day came the
boats Of their hated enemy. The inten-
ton of the invaders was Of course to
kill, plunder and destroy. They did
plunder and burn the huts they found
on the shore, but not human being
was found that they could massacre.
The whole island appeared to have been
abandoned The invaders ransacked it
we'll. traversed every glen and every
rayine and wondered where their invet-
crate enemies had gone. Failing in the
principal part Of their bloody mission,
they prepared TO leave. They took up
their oars, but hardly had they cleared
the little creek by which they had en-
tered from the sea when man, with an
apparently extraordinary vision, spied
figure in the uncertain light Of win
ter's dawn cautiously moving over the
rocks.
A shout announced the discovery, and
the islander disappeared. But the secret
had been betrayed. The inhabitants
had hidden Themselves, not deserted.
In half an hour their assailants had re-
landed and set themselves with awak-
ened hope TO the search. Snow had
fallen during the night, and the foot
stops Of the imprudcnt islander betrayed
the whereabouts Of his clan. The high
landers exultingly followed he trail of
the enemy, and they soon tracked him
to the hiding place OF his people a curl
Gus cavern, its entrance through tho
mazes OF rock, overgrown with thick
shrubs, q place easily missed by any one
not familiar with the locality. In tins
cave We're gathered all the families Of
the tribe, the women and little children
and a few of the old men, the main por-
tion of the young warriors having gone
of ON au excursiOn-a marauding one Of
coGrso-to the neishboriug islands.
with shouts Of triumph aui exultinS
wrath comparable 10 the cruel nature Of
invaders they collected seaweed, drift
wood and the dried heath, in which the
rocks abounded, and piled around the
one entrance 10 the cavern, its inmates.
now cogniZant of what their enemies
were doing, maintaining the silence OF
despair. A few words of lnuttered Gaze
lie alone passed-and in a short time
the material which the savages had
gathered was set on Gre, the scorching
heat from which aud the dense smoke
rolled In upon the unfortunate occu
pants OF the cavern, when suddenly
there arose a vail Of agony. Over the
cracking and roaring Of the huge fire
The dying wretches attempted 10 get out,
only to be killed at the mouth Of the
l.sUI - rslr ar-ftl v.aI
into the scorching flames. At last al
sounds ccased-the blaze sunk aud died
away completely; the fends had done
their work; not u living creature re-
NAMED wi,hin the almost red hot cav.
Crn. The clan had been exuugui5hed-
clan less ia the highlands Of Scotia
The triumphant murderers took 10 their
boats and sailed away again, leaving
their dead uuburied as they lay.
They never were buried through all
the long years The little island where
such atrocities were committed was ac
cursed-haunted by spirits Of those VIII,
had mot their horrible fate there Il
was also claimed by the fishermen u
the other Islands that whenever thu
happened 10 pass that way iu the nisn
low wailin-s were distinctly heard
sharp piercing shrieis, and that ghastll
skeletons were seen walking ON tn
beach, aud the place was avoided as
pest hole. After many generations thes
supe: suiious notions died ont. Now tn
islam d inhabited again, but the dread
ful legend sticks to il. and it Is said tha
many hulAGn bone is dug up by th
small gardeners. Louls Post-Dl
patch.