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Unknown Lochaber Bards. 219
As a sppcimon of how tho ditleront houses or tribes of tlie
clan Cameron chiinied a nearer kinship witli each other than with
the other brandies of the clan, T may ,2;ive the following vei*ae.
.Most of the gentlemen my grandmother spoke of were of the
" Sliochd Iain duibh " family, but she was angry with herself for
forgetting one dear friend, even if he was of another l)ranch.
The gentleman referred to was Mr Alexander Oameiou, tacksman
at Meoblo, who was of the Macmartins of Lettertinhiy.
" Cuime dhichuiinhnich mi 'n t-armunn
Ged tha e shliochd Iain 'ic Mhartuinn
Fhuair mi e gu caoinihneil, c^irdeil
Sliochd nan sar dhaoin-uaisle."
Contemporary with my grandmother was Captain Patrick
Campbell who served in the 42nd Highlanders, and who afterwards
made his home in Fort- William, where he built the house
which he sang of as " An tigh l)an an cois na txiinne," and wliich
is now known as the Imperial Hotel, occupied by Mr Robert
Whyte. Captain Campbell let this house to Sheriff Flyter, who was
married to liis sister, and he built a small house for himself,
which he, with his housekeeper, Nic Mhuirich, occupied in winter,
whilst they s})ent the sunnner in Glen Maillie, where Bean-nabainnse—as
the Captain called his gun— got her powers exercised.
The Captain at his death left this little house to his old and
faithful housekeeper, and it is still known by elderly people as
"Tigh-nic-Mhuirich." It is told of her that when she placed
venison before a guest she apologised for placing before them anything
so insipid as a bit of a he-goat they had killed. " Cha 'n
'eil so ach tioram. Cha 'n eil ann ach mir de 'n bhoc a bh'air
na gobhrabh."— " This is but dry, just a bit of the he-goat we had,"
was always her saying, but her guests knew how to interpret her
words.
Captain Campbell died in Fort-William, and is buried in the
Craigs burying-ground. The following is jiart of the epitaph :
Sacred to the memory of
Captain Patrick Campbell,
late of the 42 nd Regiment.
He died on the 13th December 1816.
A true Highlander, a sincere friend, and the best
deer-stalker in his day,
I believe the following song of his has been already in print, Itut
I give my vei-sion of it notwithstanding, as it may probaljly differ
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