Blair Collection > Celtic monthly > Volume 2, 1894

tHE CELTIC MONTHLY.
241
apparently took a great fancy to the cliilcl liard
of Allt-na-caillich, and found a place for him at
his farm of Jlusal, where he employed him to
herd calves and fulfil other light duties about
the place, leaving him ample leisure to follow
his favourite occupation. It was whilst living
at Musal that Rob Donn first began to give real
evidence of his powers as a poet, and even at
this early stage of his career, his verses possess
considerable merit and argue a keenness of
observation, and knowledge of human nature
remarkable in one so young. Nor was humour
wanting, as we shall find on I'eading " Am Jhi.r
Hath" — (The Grey Man); an amusing produc-
tion written out of spite, because he was not
allowed by his master to attend the wedding of
a neighbour who went by that appellation.
Rob, like most of his bi-other bards, was no
stranger to the tender passion, and as he
approached man's estate he fell a victim on
more than one occasion to the shafts of love shot
from the dark eyes of the Highland maids of
Strathmore, His first love was Ann Morrison,
and it was in her praise that he composed the
finest of his love poems, commencing
" 'S trom leam an airidh,
'S a gh^ir so a th' innt,
Gu 'n a phairt sin a b' abhaist,
Bhi 'n driisd air mo cbinn ;
Anna chaol-mhalach, chioch-chorrach,
Shlip-cheannach, ghrinn,
'S Iseabail a bheoil nihilis,
Mhanranaich, bhinn.''
The Isabel referred to in the above verso,
was the daughter of his employer, and after
Ann had proved faithless, he consoled himself
for her loss by attuning his lyre afresh and
singing the charms of Isabel Mackay. One of
the bard's most characteristic productions is a
song of which this lady is the matif. It is
entitled " Fiobaireachd Iseabail Nic-Aoidh" and
is written to the well-known ])ipe tune " Faille
Fhrionns " — (The Prince's ."Salute). In this
song we have ample evidence of Rob Bonn's
rythmical powers, for the difficulty of closely
following all the variations of the Highland
piobaireachd in verse, as he has successfully done,
must be palpable to all those whose knoivledge
of the intricacies of pipe music, enables them to
form an opinion on the subject. Whether
Isabel Mackay reciprocated the bard's passion is
not known, probably the fact that he was in
her father's service, and consequently inferior
to her in social position, deterred her from
encouraging his advances, as marriage between
them was out of the question. Nothing
daunted by his failure in this quarter, Rob
looked elsewhere for consolation, and soon found
it in the society of Janet Mackay, the daughter
of a small tenant farmer of Durness parish,
whom he eventually married, and she being a
woman of good sense and of the most amiable
disposition, their domestic relations were of the
happiest description,
The first few years of Rob Bonn's married
life were spent at Bad-na-h-achlais, a farm
belonging to his old friend and patron Mr. John
Mackay, and here he became known as one of the
most e.xpert deerstalkers in the neighbourhood.
It was due to his skill as a hunter, rather than
to his fame as a poet, that brought him about
this time luider the notice of his chief Lord
Reay, who provided him with a small croft at
Allt-coire-Fraisgil, on the eastern shore of Loch
Erribol, where he was employed in the con-
genial duty of supplying his Lordship's table
with venison, and his own at the same time.
As time went on, so many deer had fallen to
Rob's gun, that Lord Reay gave strict orders
that no more were to be killed without his
direct command. Little heed however was
taken of this injunction by the bard, who like
the rest of his class in the Highlands, looked
upon wild game as the property of the people ;
a feeling expressed in the following Gaelic
proverb "/s ionraic a' mhiiirle na feidh" — •
(Righteous theft is {the killiiifi) deer). At last
Rob's notorious disregard of his chief's orders
got him into trouble, and he was summoned
before the Sheriff-Substitute to answer for his
disobedience. He set out for the Court accom-
jianied by his wife and with his favourite gun
on his shoulder. Tliey had not proceeded far,
when Rob espied a small herd of deer quietly
browsing on the hill side, and with utter dis-
regard of the consequences, he took a steady
aim and brought down two line stags. His
wife was terrified when she saw what he had
done, and commenced to upbraid him for his
recklessness. His only reply was " Go home
and send for them ; if I return not you shall
have the more need for them ; but fear not, it
shall go hard with me if I am not soon with you
again to have my shai-e." His words were soon
verified, for he was so popular in the district
that no one could be found to bear witness
against him and he was let oil" with a caution.
Shortly after this episode he was appointed
Lord Reay's bow-man at Baile-na-Cille, a farm
close to the sea coast within a few miles of
Cape Wrath, where he remained for the greater
part of his life, with short intervals of other
employment elsewhere. One of these occurred,
when, probably at the request of his chief he
enlisted in the 1st Regiment of Sutherland
Highlanders, rai-sed in 1759, in whose ranks he
made many friends both among the ofKcers and
men. His military duties do not appear to
have been of a very arduous character, a fact
which was probably due to his popularity with