Blair Collection > Carmina gadelica > Volume 2

332 NOTES
' Easragan ' is in Airdchattaii, near the priory where Bruce held his first
parUament, at whicli meeting Gaehe was the language used.
Margaret Campbell, daughter of Colin Campbell of Inver Easragan, was the
wife of John Macaulay, minister of Lismore, and the paternal grandmother of Lord
Macaulay. She was much beloved in Lismore, and her husband the reverse.
Old men in the island described John Macaulay as : — ' Duine rag, danarra, ceann-
laidir, ceannsgallach — a chuile duine eearr, ach esan a mhain ceart ' — A man
obstinate, opinionative, dogmatic, domineering — all men wrong, he alone right.
A fellow-student said of Lord Macaulay : — ' I wish I were as cocksure of anything
as Tom Macaulay is of everything.' The infallibility would seem to have been
inherited.
Loch Treig is in Lochaber. 'Baile nan gaillean,' ' Baile nan gaillbhinn,' is
said to be Dun-chaillionn — Dunkeld, famed for honey, beeswax, and silk.
' Clann-pheaidirean ' (Patersons) had their forge at Creagan Corrach, Fearr-
lochan, in Benderloch, about seven miles across Glensalach from Easragan.
They were famous armourers, their swords being celebrated for their high
finish and excellence. The native home of the ' Macpheaidirein * was on the
north side of Lochfyne, where they had been numerous.
Stneola, the poetic name of the ' smeor,' ' smeorach,' thrush, mavis.
Snaolh, snaodh, snaogh, leader, chief, king. The people say that all creatures
have a ' ceann-snaoth,' head-chief A certain fish is 'ceann-snaoth nan iasg,'
the head-chief of the fish ; a certain bird is ' ceann-snaoth nan iaii,' the head-
chief of the birds ; a certain cow or bull, ' ceann-snaoth nan ni,' the head-chief
of the nowt ; a certain horse, ' ceami-snaoth nan each,' the head-chief of the
steeds ; and a certain deer, ' ceann-snaoth nam fiadh,' head-chief of the deer.
A townland in South Uist is called ' Snaothaisbhal.' The place stands pro-
minently on the bank of the river Hough, which is here crowded with salmon
like sheep in a pen. These salmon may be seen moving about in the shallow
water, guided in their movements b}' a leader. Hence the name of the farm
—the fell of the leadersiiip.
On the low-lying townland of Hough-beag on the opposite side of the
river are the ruins of the house of Neill Maceachain, father of Marshal Macdonald,
Duke of Tarentum. Maceachain was the patronymic of this sept of the Mac-
donalds. After his escape to France with Prince Charlie, Neill Maceachain
reverted to his clan-name of Macdonald.
When Marshal Macdonald visited Britain in 1S25 he went to see his
relatives, then as now numerous in South Uist. On coming in sight of the river
Hough, he raised his arm and exclaimed, ' That 's the river Hough ! I know it
from my father's description. Many a salmon my father killed there.' Marshal
Macdonald treated his numerous relatives with kindly consideration, bestowing
money on the more distiint and annuities on the more near. He carried
away potatoes from his father's garden, and earth and stones from his father's
house. He cultivated the potatoes in his own garden in France, and at his