They were not regularly laid on
the table, before the prohibition of arms, and the change of dress.
Thirty years ago the Highlander wore his knife as a companion to
his dirk or dagger, and when the company sat down to meat, the men
who had knives, cut the flesh into small pieces for the women, who
with their fingers conveyed it to their mouths.
There was perhaps never any change of national manners so quick, so
great, and so general, as that which has operated in the Highlands,
by the last conquest, and the subsequent laws. We came thither too
late to see what we expected, a people of peculiar appearance, and
a system of antiquated life. The clans retain little now of their
original character, their ferocity of temper is softened, their
military ardour is extinguished, their dignity of independence is
depressed, their contempt of government subdued, and the reverence
for their chiefs abated. Of what they had before the late conquest
of their country, there remain only their language and their
poverty. Their language is attacked on every side. Schools are
erected, in which English only is taught, and there were lately
some who thought it reasonable to refuse them a version of the holy
scriptures, that they might have no monument of their mother-
tongue.
That their poverty is gradually abated, cannot be mentioned among
the unpleasing consequences of subjection. They are now acquainted
with money, and the possibility of gain will by degrees make them
industrious. Such is the effect of the late regulations, that a
longer journey than to the Highlands must be taken by him whose
curiosity pants for savage virtues and barbarous grandeur.
RAASAY
At the first intermission of the stormy weather we were informed,
that the boat, which was to convey us to Raasay, attended us on the
coast. We had from this time our intelligence facilitated, and our
conversation enlarged, by the company of Mr. Macqueen, minister of
a parish in Sky, whose knowledge and politeness give him a title
equally to kindness and respect, and who, from this time, never
forsook us till we were preparing to leave Sky, and the adjacent
places.
The boat was under the direction of Mr. Malcolm Macleod, a
gentleman of Raasay. The water was calm, and the rowers were
vigorous; so that our passage was quick and pleasant. When we came
near the island, we saw the laird's house, a neat modern fabrick,
and found Mr. Macleod, the proprietor of the Island, with many
gentlemen, expecting us on the beach. We had, as at all other
places, some difficulty in landing. The craggs were irregularly
broken, and a false step would have been very mischievous.
It seemed that the rocks might, with no great labour, have been
hewn almost into a regular flight of steps; and as there are no
other landing places, I considered this rugged ascent as the
consequence of a form of life inured to hardships, and therefore
not studious of nice accommodations. But I know not whether, for
many ages, it was not considered as a part of military policy, to
keep the country not easily accessible. The rocks are natural
fortifications, and an enemy climbing with difficulty, was easily
destroyed by those who stood high above him.
Our reception exceeded our expectations. We found nothing but
civility, elegance, and plenty. After the usual refreshments, and
the usual conversation, the evening came upon us. The carpet was
then rolled off the floor; the musician was called, and the whole
company was invited to dance, nor did ever fairies trip with
greater alacrity. The general air of festivity, which predominated
in this place, so far remote from all those regions which the mind
has been used to contemplate as the mansions of pleasure, struck
the imagination with a delightful surprise, analogous to that which
is felt at an unexpected emersion from darkness into light.
When it was time to sup, the dance ceased, and six and thirty
persons sat down to two tables in the same room. After supper the
ladies sung Erse songs, to which I listened as an English audience
to an Italian opera, delighted with the sound of words which I did
not understand.
I inquired the subjects of the songs, and was told of one, that it
was a love song, and of another, that it was a farewell composed by
one of the Islanders that was going, in this epidemical fury of
emigration, to seek his fortune in America. What sentiments would
arise, on such an occasion, in the heart of one who had not been
taught to lament by precedent, I should gladly have known; but the
lady, by whom I sat, thought herself not equal to the work of
translating.
Mr. Macleod is the proprietor of the islands of Raasay, Rona, and
Fladda, and possesses an extensive district in Sky. The estate has
not, during four hundred years, gained or lost a single acre. He
acknowledges Macleod of Dunvegan as his chief, though his ancestors
have formerly disputed the pre-eminence.
One of the old Highland alliances has continued for two hundred
years, and is still subsisting between Macleod of Raasay and
Macdonald of Sky, in consequence of which, the survivor always
inherits the arms of the deceased; a natural memorial of military
friendship. At the death of the late Sir James Macdonald, his
sword was delivered to the present laird of Raasay.
The family of Raasay consists of the laird, the lady, three sons
and ten daughters. For the sons there is a tutor in the house, and
the lady is said to be very skilful and diligent in the education
of her girls. More gentleness of manners, or a more pleasing
appearance of domestick society, is not found in the most polished
countries.
