Fairatosh. extension of the rebellion, and prevailed with some of the most powerful chieftains to remain quiet. The privilege was, in 1786, resumed by government, and the sum of L.20,000 was granted as a compensation to the proprietor. Before that period Fairntosh whisky was much relished in Scotland; it had a strong flavour of the smoke of the peat with which the malt of which it was made was dried; but this was considered as one of the marks of its being genuine.

Vila Pool.

Hebrides.

We have already mentioned the village of Ulla Pool, situated on the west coast of Ross-shire, on the arm of the sea called Loch Broom. It is one of the fishing stations belonging to the British Society. It was begun to be built in 1788, and has been gradually increasing from that time. In 1792 there were seventy-two houses, of which thirty-five were slated, and the remainder covered with heath and thatch. This place is most advantageously situated for fishing or trade, having a good harbour on one of the best fishing lochs on the west coast. The roadstead is safe and commodious for almost any number of vessels; and a good quay has been lately built, where they can either load or unload with the greatest ease; but little business is done in it: and the inhabitants chiefly occupy themselves with the small spot of ground attached to each of their houses.

The island of Lewis, one of the Hebrides or Western Isles of Scotland, is attached to Ross-shire. As these Western Isles do not, like Orkney and Shetland, form a separate county, but form a part of the counties of Ross, Inverness, or Argyle, excepting that a part of the most southern of them constitutes the small shire of Bute, to avoid repetition, we shall here make some general remarks concerning them. "The Western Islands (says Buchannan in his History of Scotland) lie between Scot→

or names.

land and Ireland, on the west of Scotland, in the Deuca. Hebrides. ledonian Sea, and reach almost to the Isles of Orkney or Orcades. They who have written of Scottish history, either now or in the age before us, call them Hebrides ; a new name, of which there is not any sign or any original in ancient writers; for in that tract of the ocean in which they lie some authors place the Ebudæ, the Amoda, or Emoda; but with such inconsistence among themselves, that they scarce ever agree as to their number, situation, Strabo, the most ancient, may be the better excused, because he followed uncertain report; this part of the world being very little known in his time. Pomponius Mela reckons the Emoda to be seven. Martialis Capella makes the Amode as many. Ptolemy and Solinus make the number of the Ebuda five. Pliny numbers the Amodæ seven, and the Ebudæ thirty. I, for my part (says Buchanan) think fit to retain the name most used by the ancients, and therefore I call all the Western Isles by the general name of Ebudæ." These islands were never accurately known or described till the beginning of of the sixteenth century, when a description of them was published by Donald Monro, high dean of the Isles, termed by Buchannan "a pious and diligent person, who travelled himself over all the islands, and viewed them carefully." They are about three hundred in number. Their ancient history is involved in great obscurity; and many fabulous stories are told by Boethius and Buchannan concerning the ancient inhabitants of the Ebudæ. They appear to have been under their own princes, and subject to the Scottish monarchs, until the eighth century, about the time when the Pictish kingdom was utterly destroyed by Kenneth the Second. At this period the seat of the Scottish monarchy was removed from Campbeltown and Dunstaffnage to the

Hebrides. eastern coast; and this remote and deserted corner soon became a prey to foreign invaders. The Danes and Norwegians, who since the beginning of the eighth century had made frequent descents on these islands, now got firm possession of the greater part of them. Nor were the invaders satisfied with this, but in a short time made frequent inroads into the heart of the country, so as to put it out of the sovereign's power to command the western frontier of the Scottish kingdom. Kintyre, Airshire, Lorn, Knapdale, and part of Galloway, fell under the dominion of the Norwegians, and afforded haunts for pirates and men of desperate fortunes, who infested the coasts of England and the neighbouring parts. At length Harold Harfager, King of Denmark and Norway, about the end of the ninth century, made the expedition to the Scottish isles, which we mentioned when treating of Orkney, and appointed a viceroy or governor, considering these islands as forming a part of his kingdom. One of the Danish viceroys, however, threw off his dependence on the mother-country, and declared himself King of the Isles, and fixed his seat of government in the Isle of Man, where he and his successors, for several generations, were sometimes independent, and at other times tributary, according to the vicissitudes of their affairs. With one of these kings or viceroys, Somerled, a powerful chieftain of Kintyre, formed a matrimonial alliance, about the beginning of the twelfth century; and some time after, in 1158, availing himself of the troubles of that period, set up as an independent prince, and separated the Western Isles and Kintyre from the crown or viceroyalty of Man. After this, by conquest or treaty, he made himself master of a great part of Argyleshire. Not yet satisfied with the extent of his possessions, and elated with his former success, he formed the design of subjecting all Scotland to his power. Accordingly, in

1164, he made a descent on the Clyde with a fleet of 120 Hebrides. sail, and fought with the army of Malcolm the Fourth near Renfrew; but he there fell, with a great number of his followers, a sacrifice to his ambition. The effects of this disaster were long severely felt by his family; who, instead of attempting new conquests, were hardly able to preserve the territories of their father. Accordingly, at different periods, we find the kings of Norway, of Scotland, and of England, laying claim to the sovereignty of the isles, and pretending to dispose of them at their pleasure; although the descendants of Somerled still kept possession, exercised the power, and often assumed the title of kings: But the Norwegian monarchs not only had the greatest authority in this district, but their authority appeared to be well founded; for, in 1093, the sovereignty of the isles had been formally ceded to Magnus (surnamed the Barefooted) King of Norway, by Donald Bane King of Scotland, brother to Malcolm the Third, as the bribe to assist him in usurping the Scottish crown. In the beginning of the thirteenth century, the Somerled or M'Donald family, as they were then called, were tributary to Norway until 1263, when, losing the battle of Largs, the Danish power in Scotland was greatly weakened; and the successor of Hacho finally ceded the isles to the crown of Scotland for the annual tribute of 100 merks. In 1335 the descendants of Somerled were again independent; and Donald, the ancestor of the M'Donald family, was in the possession of the sovereignty of the isles; and having acquired the Earldom of Ross by marrying the daughter of Alexander Lesslie Earl of Ross, became the most powerful subject of Scotland.

The lordship of the isles continued in the possession of the family of M'Donald for many years; but at last, in proportion as the kings of Scotland were enabled to consolidate their power, they made caniderable efforts

Hebrides. to subdue these unruly chieftains. James the Fourth and Fifth made great exertions for this purpose. James the Fourth held a parliament at Kintyre in 1493, where he emancipated a part of the vassals of M'Donald upon the mainland, and gave them charters from the crown; and James the Fifth made a voyage to the isles to repress the power of the M'Donalds; but on account of the frequent minorities that occurred in the succession to the Scottish crown, and the consequent weakness of government, no better expedient was found, for some time, than that of granting portions of the territory of the M'Donalds to neighbouring chieftains, who were thus incited to make war upon them. The Campbells, in particular, that is, the family of Argyle, conquered from them Kintyre and other territories: But at last, the aggrandisement of the Scottish monarchs, by succeeding to the crowns of England and Ireland, sunk these haughty Lords of the Isles into British subjects; and their family is represented by Lord M'Donald. They long retained that pride of spirit which had resulted from their independence. One of them happening to be in Ireland, was invited to an entertainment given by the Lord Lieutenant. He chanced to be among the last in coming in, and sat himself down at the foot of the table near the door. The Lord Lieutenant asked him to sit beside him. M'Donald, who spoke no English, asked "What says the carle ?" "He bids you move to the head of the table.” "Tell the carle, that wherever M'Donald sits, that is the head of the table." The opinion conceived of these lords in their own country is emphatically expressed in the short epitaph discovered lately on one of their tombs in Icolmkill: “ Macdonnill fato bic;" as much as to say, fate alone could lay M'Donald there. The M'Donalds were much celebrated for their hospitality, and no less