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and imprisoned. His papers were carried off
and lost for ever. He died at Sancerre in 1788
from the effects of a fall which had dislocated his
hip, in his sixty-ninth year.
One of his companions in durance vile in
London was the faithful and well-trusted Donald
MacLeod of Galtrigal, Skye, a shrewd, ingenious,
and capable man, with great caution, well adapted
for carrying out the great object he had in view,
viz. , in assisting the Prince to elude his enemies.
Hence the more eager was the desire of the
Government officers to capture him. This was
accomplished by his own countryman, Major
Allan MacDonald of Knock, parish of Sleat, who
had more opportimities than others of ferreting
outDonald'smovements. Major Allan, commonly
called " Ailean a' Chnoic," was a stern, cruelhearted
man. He treated the poor Jacobites
with uncalled-for severity, so that he was literally
detested by most of his acquaintances, and
particularly so by those who had embraced the
Prince's cause. A certain priest in Uist composed
some verses to him of the most cutting and
satirical description, of which the following lines
are a sample* :
—
Ciod i do bharail air Ailein, a' bheist ?
Cha teid e o'n bhaile gun iùil as a dheigh,
Bithidh chlaidh air tarsuing, mar gu'n deanadh e
tapadh,
B'e sin cuinneag a' mhaistridh, is ceis phaisgte nam
breug !
Tha'n dubh-phuill air Ailean a' Chnoic.
'S ait leam a chluinntinn air Ailean a' Chnoic,
'S gu'm bheil an dubh-phuill air a sparradhgugrinn
'S gur alt leara a chluinntinn air Ailean a' Chnoic.
" In 1825, when Marshal MacDonald visited
Great Britain, he was everywhere received with
distinguished honour, both by Government and
the people. Tiie cordiality of his reception in
London was only equalled by that of his reception
in Edinburgh and Inverness. He visited the
battlefield of Culloden, and expressed strong disapprobation
at the Highlanders for engaging the
Koyal troops in such a place. He visited the
Western Isles in a Kevenue cruiser, placed at his
disposal by the Government, accompanied by Mr
Ranald MacDonald, Writer to the Signet (whom
the writer of this sketch knew very well), who
was a son of MacDonald of Boisdale, a scion of
the MacDonalds of Clan Ranald. The Marshal
walked from the ford at Lochdar to Houghbeg, a
distance of 10 miles. On coming in sight of the
river, he exclaimed— ' That is the river Hough.
I know it from my father's description ; many a
salmon has he caught there.' He sent for all his
relations in the neighbourhood. When his blind
old uncle was brought to him, he embraced him
affectionately, saying, " You dear old man, how
like you are to my own father." He addressed
his relations in French and broken Gaelic. He
took earth from the floor of the house where his
father was born, and potatoes from the garden,
and these he placed in a bag and carried home
with him to France. He planted the potatoes in
his garden, and gave orders that the earth should
be placed in his coffin after his death." *
ROBERT MACDONALD, TEACHER,
DINGWALL.
{Motto, " Pci- mare per terras.")
On the 18th of October, 1818, at Strathgarve,
Contin, Ross-shire, Mr Robert MacDonald pub-
lished the following "family record":— " Tiiis
record is to certify to all whom it may concern
that I, the writer hereof, Robert MacDonald, was
born of respectable i)arents at the west-end of
Auldinie Bridge, near Loth, in the parish of Loth
Sutherlandshire, at three o'clock in the morning
of Monday, the 22nd day of June, A.D. 1795,
and was baptised by the Rev. George MacCulloch,
minister of Loth. That my father is John
MacDonald, farmer and cattle dealer, eldest son
of Alex. MacDonald and Janet MacPherson,
there. And my mother, Catherine MacDonald,
eldest daughter of Robert MacDonald, weaver,
and Christina Sutherland, Kintradewell, parish
of Loth. My eldest brother, George, was a
soldier in the 42nd Regiment, and was wounded,
and died thereby, at Bayonne, shortly before
the battle of Waterloo. I have living a sister
named Isabella, and a brother named Alexander,
both younger than myself. I had an uncle and
three aunts on my father's side, namely, George,
Betty, Isabella, and Elizabeth, and three uncles
and one aunt on my mother's side, namely,
Donald, John, William, and Helen."