PREFACE.

The following pages are the result of much gathering,
begun during my school and college days, of the
traditions and legends and songs of my native
Parish, and of much searching, in more recent
years, for written records referring to it. I have
endeavoured to give in them a plain and accurate
account of the Olden Times, and a true picture of
the Past. The work is, however, that of a novice
in book-writing, who has written it, for his own
diversion and recreation, during hours of freedom
from the labours and anxieties of a busy profes­
sional life ; and, while no effort has been spared to
ensure accuracy of statement, the book is probably
not without blemishes of a literary nature which it
might have escaped in other hands, and under more
favourable circumstances.

I have received generous help in connection with
the work. My parents, whose wonderful store of
legend and song first suggested it, and the old
people, all over the Parish, whose tales at many a
céilidh are still a pleasing recollection, are now

vi.

PREFACE.

beyond the reach of this expression of my gratitude ;
and so is The Chisholm, who placed his family
papers at my disposal. Others who helped are,
happily, still with us. To Caroline, Countess
Dowager of Seafield, I am especially indebted,—for
free access to the numerous and invaluable ancient
papers preserved at Castle Grant. My thanks
are also due to Mr Fraser-Mackintosh of Drummond,
for the use of interesting documents in his posses­
sion ; to Dr Dickson, Curator of the Historical
Department, Register House, Edinburgh ; Mr Clark,
of the Advocates’ Library ; Mr Law, of the Signet
Library ; the Rev. Walter Macleod, Edinburgh ; Mr
Francis James Grant, W.S., Edinburgh (a worthy
descendant of the learned James Grant of Corri-
mony); the Clerks of the Synod of Moray and of
the Presbyteries of Inverness and Abertarff ; and the
officials of the Record Office, London,—for much
courtesy and aid in the course of my researches ; to
Provost Ross, Inverness, for the very successful
“ restoration” of the Castle, which forms the frontis­
piece, and for the architectural description and
ground plan of the Castle ; to Mr Mackintosh, artist,
Inverness, for the sketches of the Bridge of the
Leap and Mac Uian’s Pool ; to Mr Grant of Glen-
moriston, for the loan of the Killicrankie Shield, of
which an illustration is given, and for the portrait of

PREFACE.

vii.

Patrick Grant, the protector of Prince Charles ; to
Mrs Grant, senior, of Glenmoriston, for the drawings
of Iain a’ Chragain’s Sword and the Glenmoriston
Pillory ; to Miss Cameron, late of Lakefield, for the
drawing of the Urquhart Brooch ; to the Council of
the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, for the illus­
trations of the Balnalick Urn and Bronze Blade, and
of the Balmacaan Sculptured Stones ; to Mr J. R.
N. Macphail, M.A., advocate, Edinburgh, who has,
at great trouble, revised almost all the proof-sheets ;
to Mr Alexander Macbain, M.A., Inverness, who, in
connection with the appendix on Place-Names, has
freely given me out of the abundance of his Celtic
learning ; to my father-in-law, Mr John Mackay,
Hereford, author of “ Sutherland Place-Names,” for
valuable suggestions on the same subject ; and to
my Wife, who has relieved me of much of the labour
connected with the transcription of old writings.

It has been the will of Fate that the story of the
Parish should be told by the last man who has a
home or a holding in it of a family who, for centuries,
acted some little part in that story. I hope I am
doing the old place a service and not a wrong by
publishing it. I trust, also, that no one will
find cause of offence in anything I have recorded
concerning his or her forefathers. It is the duty of
the historian, however humble he or his subject may

viii.

PREFACE.

be, to tell his tale truthfully and without favour ;
and I have, in endeavouring to act up to that
duty, experienced the pain of having to record
unpleasant things, not only about my own forbears,
but also regarding ancestors and relatives of some
of my best friends on earth. The only comforting
reflection is that the men of the Past ought not to
be judged by the moral standard of the Present.

WILLIAM MACKAY.

Craigmonie, Inverness,
Christmas, 1893.

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