Matheson Collection > Deirdire; and, The lay of the children of Uisne

NOTES 139
Clann Uisne of the quick bows, whose chests were
broader than door-leaves.
At the head of Glen Etive is a plain called
' Dail-an-eas,' dale of the waterfall. The water-
fall is not much for the Highlands, the cascade
being only a few feet high. From the foot of the
fall the water flows a long distance upon a bottom
of small boulders, bordered on one side by a per-
pendicular wall of rock, and on the other side by
a natural bank of stones. A gentle declivity looks
down on the waterfall, and on the clear crystalline
water running on the boulders, and away down
between the mountains and down the course of the
loch. A spot upon this declivity is called ' Grianan
Dearduil,' 'Grianan Dearshula' — the sunny bower
of Dearshula. The remains of some building are
indicated in the green grass of the slope. The old
people of the place had a tradition — 'gu'n robh
grianan Dearshula air a thubhadh a mach le reang
-roinneach nan glac agus le ruadh chriadh nam
poll, agus air a linseadh a steach le giubhas nam
beann agus le cloimh-iteach nan ian' — that the
sunny bower of Dearshula was thatched without
with the long-stalked fern (royal fern) of the dells
and the red clay of the pools, and lined within with
the pine of the mountains and the down feathers of
birds. Here the deer of the hill could be shot from
the window and the salmon of the stream could be
fished from the door of the bower. The spot is
most beautiful and the prospect most magnificent.
The whole of this district was a royal forest, at