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

140 NOTES
least as early as the days of the early Stewart kings,
and there is reason to think that it was so even
before their time. Dail-an-eas, Dalness, was the
residence of the hereditary keepers of the royal
forest and is still held by their descendant. Two
Gaelic poets are intimately connected with Dalness
— Alexander Macdonald, the greatest of Gaelic
poets, is connected with it through his wife, who
was daughter of Macdonald of Dalness. The
Macdonalds of Dalness were known as ' Clann
Reamhair,' 'Clann Domhnuil Reamhair ' — the fat
clan, the clan of Donald the fat. They were a sept of
the Macdonalds of Glencoe. Duncan Ban Macintyre,
who excels all British poets, Gaelic or English, as
the poet of nature, lived for some years at Dalness
and within a few yards of Grianan Dearshula.
Near the middle of Upper Loch Etive and on
the west side is a small bay called 'Caitirle,' and
near it is a small island variously called ' Eilean
Uisne,' 'Eilean Uisneachan,' the isle of Uisne,
the isle of Uisneachan, and ' Eilean Chlann Uisne,'
the isle of the Children of Uisne. Though these
names still remain, the island is better known now
as ' Eilean nan ron,' the isle of seals, because when
a seal strays up here this isle is the only place in
this part of the loch whereon he can rest and sleep.
In this sunny bay of Caitirle there was an orchard
famous from early times. It was known as ' Garadh
ubhal Chlann Uisne,' the apple garden of Clann
Uisne. Special trees in the orchard were known
as ' Craobh-ubhal Dhearduil,' the apple-tree of