Blair Collection > Celtic gleanings, or, Notices of the history and literature of the Scottish Gael

32 LECTURE I.
of Malcolm Kenraore, when Gaelic was the
spoken language of the court and nation. In
the Isle of Man we have the remnant of the
national council in the House of Keys, an in-
stitution which can be shown to have been as-
sociated with the Celtic government of the
island; and the "mod" has not even yet en-
tirely disappeared from the Scottish Highlands.
In the island of St Kilda, far out among the
waves of the Atlantic, is a purely Celtic popu-
lation, retaining many of the earlier customs of
the race. They have never been brought into
contact with our civil government, and they
have no sheriffs, jails, or policemen. Yet they
have important causes to be decided : an annual
division has to be made of their rocks for fowl-
ing ; the birds caught on neighbouring islands,
have to be allocated ; and disputes of various
kinds among the community arranged. And
how is this done ? Just by means of the
" mod." The men of the island, as often as
needs be, meet in a certain spot, and there, as
round the Indian council fire, settle the affairs
of the nation. The writer of these sentences,
along with some friends, visited this distant
island a few years ago. They had brought
along with them several articles as presents to
the poor people. The fears of the party were