Blair Collection > History of the Celtic language

266 HISTORY OF THE
" The Taughairm at length was finished, and the votaries
were then to demand their due reward on the spot where the
rites were performed. Allan was agitated by the fearful
sights he had witnessed, and made use of two words meaning
wealth. Lachlan, who, though the youngest man, had the
greatest firmness, and had all his wits about him, asked pro-
geny and wealth, and each obtained literally what he asked.
" When Allan was on his death-bed, and his pious friends
advised him to beware of the wiles of Satan, he replied, that
if La chain Our (who was then dead) and himself were to have
the use of their arms, they would dethrone Satan, and take
up the best berths in his dominions. When Allan's funeral-
procession approached the church-yard, the second-sighted
persons present saw Lachain Our at some distance in full
armour, at the head of a party in sable attire, and the smell of
sulphur was perceived by all the people.
" The stone on which Cluase Mor,* the fiercest of the cats,
sat, is still exhibited, with the mark visible in small pits upon
its surface.
" Allan's figure, in full armour, is cut on the stone which
covers his grave, in lona : and the story of the Taughairm is
always attached to his name, to this day.f
" Cameron, of Lochiel, performed the Taughairm some
time before this, and was presented with a small silver shoe,
which was to be put on the left foot of every son born in that
family ; and this custom was always continued, until the shoe
was unfortunately lost, when Lochiel's house was consumed
by fire, in 1 746. This shoe fitted all of them but one ; and he
afterwards turned his back to the foe at Sheriff-Muir, having
inherited a large foot by his mother, who was of another race."
* The cat with huge ears.
f A very imperfect account of the Taughairm will be found
in one of Sir Walter Scott's notes to his beautiful poem, " The
Lady of the Lake."