Blair Collection > Treatise on the language, poetry, and music of the Highland clans

OF THE HIGHLAND CLANS. 159
'S du bu tighearnail gabhail, Chief-like is thy hospitality,
's da bu ti'-ernayl gavayl
Noir bhiodh tionneal gach caraid mu As gathers every friend around thy
noyr vi' tì-0-nel gach carayd jmu table. — On, etc.
d' bhord. — Nan, etc.
d' vord
Gu'm biodh farum air thaileasg. There will be the rattling of back-
gum bi' faram ayr haylesg gammon
Agus fuim air a chlarsaich. And the sound of the harp,
agus fu-aym ayr a chlarsaych
Mur bu dhuchas do shar-mhac Mhic Leoid. As hereditary (custom was) of the sur-
niur bu yuchas do har-vac vio le-oyd passing son of Leod.— There, etc.
Gu'm, etc.
Se bu chleachda na dheigh sin The custom was afterwards
se bu chleo-a na yey' sin
Bhi seinn uir-sgeul na Feinne, To sing the new tales of the Fin-
vi sheynn uyrsgeyl na feynnè galians.
Is eachdraidh graigh cheir-ghil nan And anecdotes of wild adventures
is ecli-ray' gray' cbeyr-yil nan after the race of white badges,
crochd. — Se, etc. (the deer.) — The, etc.
Iain Lom, or John the Itare, a nickname fastened on the bard, who lived
to a very old age, from his sarcastic humour and the severity of his political
poems, was royal Celtic bard to Charles the First and Second. His biography
has never been written, nor his poems collected or published, there being no
encouragement for Gaelic writers, in consequence of the prejudices of strangers,
and the scattered state of the Highlanders, which precludes the necessary sales
to make Gaelic literature a paying literature. From the energetic and active
character of the bard, the disturbed times in which he lived, his great influence
with the clans, his zealous loyalty, and his singularly romantic and adventurous
spirit, no bard better deserves, or has left more ample materials, in the poetry
and traditional lore of his country, for an interesting biographical sketch than
Iain Lom. My space does not admit of my even slightly glancing at the lives
of the bards noticed in this small work ; but I cannot help telling an anecdote
of Iain Lom, in connexion with my Covenanting chief, Gillespig Gruamach,
whose memory has hitherto, in my opinion, met with Uttle justice from friend
or foe. An idle report having been set on foot, to the effect that a reward had
been ofiered for the apprehension and production of Iain Lom at Inverary
Castle, the earl was called on one morning before breakfast by a Highlander,
whose ostentatious and ample dress, spare and angular figure, sharp yet shy and
suspicious looks, appeared both singular and striking. The bard, for the strange
visitor was no other than Iain Lom himself, asked the chief whether he had not
lately offered such a reward to any one who should produce Iain Lom before him
at Inverary. The chief, laughing, replied he had ; when the bard, stretching out
his hand to receive the money, exclaimed, " Give it to me, then, for here I am,
produced by himself" The earl was exceedingly amused ; but instead of lodging