, 1898-11-21
ONE PIBROCH.

This is the story that Donald Mac
Pberson told me one day last autumn
on the Black Moor that is over Glen
Roy. 1t was after a long mornings
shoot, and he and l were lying upon
the heather in the fraternal enjoyment
of ~usquebaugh unpolluted by the fiscal
eye and surrounded by the soothing reek
Of our postprandial pipes. l had won
Donald's heart by certain qualities
which ! once had the felicity of acct
dentally overhearing him name to a
fellow gillie who was charging him
with undue friendship for a "a bit CT Il
Sassenach body" "He is no Sassenach
bodyi'' cried my indignant champion
in excited Erse. Gle is n highland gen
tleman, for his mother will have been
a daughter of the Clan -, which ia
a very good name whatever. He is a
very straight shooting gentleman, more
over, and he has the Gaelic as well as
I or you, Angus MacIntosh!' SO, when
I asked him that day with due cere-
mony) to explain his "to name Of
"MacChat q Fraoch" (son of the heath
or cat), and to tell me a curious legend
which I had somehow learned in the
hamlet to be attached to the name, he
readily responded to my request.
translate his wild tale from the
Gaelic in which he told it me. How
much it loses in the process those who
know that beautiful language will
easily understand.
"It is from the father of my great
grandfather, " said Donald, "that | will
be having the name. A very pretty man
he was, Dougal MACPHERSON. He stood
more than 6 feet high. His back was
as broad as the door of his dwelling,
and he could carry q full grown stag on
his shoulders over Ben Minor, and the
activity of him was as great as his
strength, for ut the hattie of Falkilk,
where he was fighting i'll the first rank
of Clan MhuiraclI, he sprang against
the side Of a Dragons horse and slash.
ed off the head Of the rider with Il
sweep of his claymore in the leap. And
Cluny himself called him next morning
in front of the clan and said that it was
. spring like the spring of Cuchulaind
at the ford fight with Ferdin in Ireland
long ago, and that he should be hence
forth called the Heather Cat for his
fierce, active, heroic deeds in the battle
and as q name of honor upon him.
"Now, there were very few in the
highlands that could be matching Don-
gal in strength or f~leetness or in the
managing of the gun, or the dirk, or
the claymore. but there was II art
that he could never at all be the master
Of and that is the art of playing the
pipes, though he longed for that one
more than for any other, and the want
of it was n very great loss to him what
ever, as I shall be explaining to you,
for the piper of Glen Roy-and that was
Duncan Gamer on-had a daughter, the
sight of whose fair face was dearer to
Dougal than the sight Of a moor cover
ed with deer, or Of a liver full OF
salmon, or of n battle line of the slider
roy, and her heart was given to Dougal,
as his was to her, but her father had
said that no man should have her in
marriage who could not play the pipes.
It is a very dour, hard, obstinate man
he was, Duncan Cameron, and Dougal
could never at all persuade him to let
him have his daughter Helen to wife on
any other conditions, ard it was q hope
less task for him to be trying to learn
the pipes. Duncan liked him very well,
and would be giving him plenty of in
structing. but it was all of no use what
ever. He might ms well try to learn the
flying as the pipe music. 1t was not
that he was moi u clever lad, az l have
said before. 1t was as if some II had
been laying o spell of dIuidical Ell
ohantment upoA him to prevent him
from learning, and it was not that
either, for he had gone over the noun
tain to old Brigid, the witch of Loeb
dhu, and she had made the deasil around
him and said spells that would have
freed him from enchantment if any
there had been on him, but it did not
at all avail him in his learning the
music, and his hopes of Helen Cameron
kept getting smaller every day, for he
knew she would never marry him with
out her fathers consent, though she
never would marry any one else-which
was ave some consolation to Dougal.
"Now, one day he was up in the
piper's, house, and Duncan was, as
usual, giving him a lesson, but it is
worse he seemed to be getting instead
Of better, and Duncan kept growing
angrier and angrier, till at least he was
fairly stamping with rage upon tie
floor of his house. He was n big man,
with = very red head aud beard, and
his temper was conforming, being very
hot whatever (Which you may '
yourself noticed in those that have the
red hair). Till suddenly he rushed over
to Dougal and tore the pipes from him
and dashed them on the floor. am
thinking he was very near to stamping
On them too.
'Amadnnr (fool) he shouted.
'AmadanP
"Dougal got up very slowly, looking
him full between the eyes.
"'Duncan Cameron he said--and
n was. n . very quiet voice he wM
A.. go. Aa~AHnn