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The Gael— His Characteristics and Social History. 289
foundations of revealed roliifion. Next to his sense of duty
to God, deference to authority forms tlie most striking feature
in tlie ilii'racter of the Oaol, whether we consider that authority
as vested in the head of a family, in the person of a
chief, or in that of the Sovereign. The traits of filial attachment,
of self-sacritice and generosity on the part of children
towards their ])arents and their family cannot be over estimated.
'I'lie warm home, liowever humble, is never forgotten, and the
tilial reverence due to parental authority far from waning with
the advancing years of the parents only becomes stronger. The
pecuniary assistance to their parents atlbrded by devoted sons and
(laughters out of their small and hard earned wages to supplement
the scanty n^turns from the croft, or the meagre sui)i)ort drawn
from a handicraft has been a subject of admiration and a theme
of praise to many. Colonel Stewart, in his military annals, makes
frequent allusions to the disinterestedness and generosity of Highland
soldiers in saving out of their small pay considerable sums
to be remitted to their homes. Nor was the generosity of the
Highlander confined to the parental home: the chief likewise was
nobly and dutifully supported with all the pecuniary assistance at
the disposal of his devoted followers. And here we have the
second, and ])erhaps the greatest object of the staunch fidelity of
the Gael, viz., his Chief.
Fidelity/ to Chief.—Strong as was the tie which united the
Scottish Highlander to his family, it is doubtful if it equalled
with him in sacredness and constancy, that which bound him to
hi3 chief. His attachment to his fan:iily sprang from the natural
afiection inherent in human nature, common to us all, which binds
parents to their children, and children to their parents, but to his
chief he adhei'ed with a chivalrous, manly, inviolable fidelity which
braved in his cause every difficulty, and made light of every
sacrifice, even of life itself; rather than endanger the lionour or
be wanting in that fealty and devotcdness which he owed to the
head and leader of his family. That particular individuality by
which he was distinguished from any other of his neighbouring
clans, and made of that clan to which he happened to belong a
distinct and independent state, as it were, in the mid.st of a host
of other petty states whose aims and interests seldom harmonised
—all this sense of self-importance and family distinction lie derived
from his Chief. He (the chief) was the revered scion and lineal
representative of that ancient stock to which each separate clan
traces its origin ; whilst he was regarded at the same time as the
loving father and faithful guardian of his clan ; whose every
ly