The Highland monthly - National Library of Scotland

Scenes of Long Ago. 167
already sweeping triumphantly in a whirlwind of sounds
through the racy measures of his masterpiece Strathspey.
Another musician of no mean skill could we boast in
the person of Gillespie Macewen, who had been successively
herd and shepherd under Mark Teviot, and latterly acted as
his right hand man in the management of Glenbeltane.
How often have the rafters rang to the strains of his bag-
pipes, while they gave forth the stirring martial music of
'' Duncaini's March," or the weird dirge notes of" Duncairn's
Farewell." Wlienever the first shrill peal from the kitchen
announced to Ishbal Macindrui, as she plied her work in the
Spinning Garret, that Gillespie was about to begin, the old
lady would open the door of her sanctum, and if he
happened to play either of the tunes I have named, she
always used to remain perfectly motionless until its last
note died awa}-.
Now, Ishbal and that dimly-lighted apartment \A-herein
she presided are well worthy of a visit before we bring our
Winter Night to a close.
In truth, this spinster was a remarkable woman in many
respects, and of no small consequence within her o\A-n
sphere. As a descendant of the M'Indruis of Inver-
beltane, she belonged to one of the most ancient families in
Goyshire, and, notwithstanding her indigence, neither she
nor those with whom she mingled ever lost sight of this
fact. Having been within the counted degrees of kinship
with his late wife, who was also a M'Indrui, old Mark
Teviot took a kindly charge of Ishbal. When he came to
the country, she was living in a wretched hut, which stood
upon the moorland between Glenbeltane and Balmosis. In
process of time, this hut threatened to fall to the ground,
and not till then could Ishbal be induced to take up her
residence at Glenbeltane. Regarding this as her head-
quarters, she made yearly visits of a few months to Letter-
fern and Stratheonan. The various processes concerned in
the preparation of flax and wool engrossed a great deal of
time and attention in the houses of the tacksmen. When
prudent mistresses met together, their conversation always