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Unhnoiun Lochaber Bards.
'8 ioiiui iloasgacli og 'us niaiglitleaii
Cliaidh a null an am nii faighreacli
'8 inor an ionndrainn iad o 'n oighreiichd
Air an Siaoilear Cluanai.
A' dol tliairis uainn do rioghaclul
Anns ain b' aineolach ar sinnsir
Bidh na oaileagan fo nihi-gliean
Co ni 'n cirean fhuiisgladh ?
—
'S ann Dir-daoin a rinn sibh seoladh
As an til- 's an rol)h sibh eulach
Righ nan Dul a Ijhi 'g 'ur cunihnadh
"S biodli 'iir duohtis buan ann.
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Tliere were many other l)ards in Lochaber that time would
fail me to speak of. DonuU i>an Bard—the grandfather of the
famous Ewen Maclachlan — composed an elegy on Sir Ewen
Cameron of Lochiel, which is full of historic interest, and of the
most intelligent appreciation of the high and noble qualities of
that distinguished chief. It was a Macinnes from Fort-William
that composed that sea-son'g " Leis an Lurgainn o hi." He had
a smack called the " Lurgainn,"' and he composed the song after
a stormy voyage they had coming from Ireland. Donald Cameron,
of Kenlochiel— the great-grandfather of the late J. A. Cameron,
of the Standard—composed a very beautiful song known as
" Ho gum bheil mo riin ort a Mhairi laghach,
Ged chuir thu do chill rium gur tu mo roghainn."
His bi'ide was carried off to Sleat where they tried to force her
into a marriage with another, and Donald was made to believe
that she had eloped with his rival. She stood tirm, however, and
was after a few days rescued by Mr Cameron and a number of
friends, and she immediately thereafter became his wife.
The cultivation of the gift of poesy is not so common now in
Lochaber as it was in the days of my girlhood, when almost every
one seemed to be ambitious for either couj posing a few verses or impro\ising.
One neighbour in Corrybeg asked another whose name
was Cameron to ferry him to Ardgour, a request with wliich
he most readily complied, and the result was a few vei'ses composed
in praise of himself and his boat as follows :
Ho mo bhata laghach 's tu mo bhata grinn
Hu ho ho mo bhata 's tn mo bhata grinn,
Ho mo bhata laghach 's tu mo bhata grinn,
Am bata boidheach lurach cha chuir muir ort strith.
—
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