The Highland monthly - National Library of Scotland

6q6 The Highland Monthly.
His description of the converse of the hart with his
unsullied mate is exceedingly good :
— :
With joy he roams the mountains blue,
And valleys fair and wide, .
'Mong heather bathed in pearly dew,
With his fond, faithful bride.
She sees but him, him only loves,
No other fills her eyes ;
Him watches, moving as he moves,
And in his bosom lies.
They traverse each romantic glen.
Browse on each secret lea,
Make love in every cozy den.
And wander far and free
While here I pine in hopeless ward.
Nor mark my herd of deer
Fleeting across thy brow, Melard,
And on thy wolds career.
The same longing to get back to Skye is expressed in
the last verse :
—
Ah, me ! 'tis hard to wither here,
And smoke and fumes inhale
From dusky lanes and vennels drear
And gutters dark and stale ;
And bid sweet Skye of bays and dells,
Wild glens, and mountains blue,
Where all I love in comfort dwells,
A long and sad adieu.
In connection with the expedition against the Keppoch
murderers it is on record that the Ciaran Mabach left his own
house on Wednesday, reached Inverlair in Brae-Lochaber
on Sunday, stormed and set fire to the block-house, slew
the murderers, and sent their heads that same day to Edin-
burgh. Lieutenant Campbell says that this feat is not sur-
passed by that of Montrose when he marched from Fort-
Augustus by Glenbuick, Glenroy, Dalnabi, and Lianachan,
to Inverlochy, in one day. The defenders of the block-
house consisted of an uncle and six nephews, who resisted
so bravely that sixty of the besiegers were killed. Iain