History of the Clan MacLean from its first settlement at Duard Castle, in the Isle of Mull, to the present period

414
Appendix.
With lips compressed and dauntless breast
The Gael his stripes unflinching bore,
No change of countenance confess'd
The pain that thrill'd through every pore.
" Enough I " the chieftain call'd aloud ;
The victim's cords were quick untied;
And, slowly followed by the crowd,
Loehbuie to meet his lady hied.
Like sunbeam peering o'er the fells
Through musky clouds which sudden roll,
She sweetly smiles, and soon dispels
The moody umbrage of his soul.
With kindly glow his bosom warms,
And, stooping low upon the plain.
He raised the infant in his arms
And kissed him o'er and o'er again.
As if by force of magic's power.
The clansmen, in their transports wild,
Join in the greetings of the hour,
And bless the lady and her child.
The cheetah in the jungle trail
Creeps stealthy forward as he giies,
And, if observed, he sweeps his tail
And clouds of dust around him throws.
As, thus concealed, he crouching lies.
The doe no longer looks behind;
Keliev'd from dread of all surprise
She feeds and thinks 'twas but the wind.
But, creeping nearer, with a bound
The cheetah fixes on his prey,
Which, felling on the tangled ground.
He paws and tears with savage plaj'.
So Galium Dhu with felon aim
His direful purpose to conceal
Shouts with the crowd in loud acclaim.
As if disgrace he could not feel.
But, sudden as the lightning's flash.
He from the nurse the child has lorn,
And up the cliff, with frenzied dash.
The infant on his arm has borne.
He never stopp'd till, clamb'ring high.
The fearful peak at last he gained ;
And thence he scowled with glaring eye
On those who far below remained.
He quickly drew his dagger blade,
And o'er his heart he placed the child;
He wrapped it in his tartan plaid.
And stood erect, and grimly smiled.
The chief was powerless and appiill'd.
The pale and frenzied Isabel
Wild shrieked, and for her infant called,
As prostrate on the earth she fell.
Seem'd as if wakening from a trance,
'Twas only then, the clansmen knew
By instinct, or by dint of chance.
The vengeful act of Galium Dhu.
Infuriate, madden'd, forth they bound
To scale the steep and narrow path.
Which up the cliff so slippery wound,
Piom which to swerve were certain death.
" jMi've but a step," he hoarsely cried.
And on this dagger's hilt, 1 swear.
Its blade shall red in blood be dyed.
Of innocence — take heed 1 beware I "
The chieftain, with uplifted hands,
Looks heav'nward on the voiceless sky.
And tremblingly imploring stands,
Kack-torn with fiercest agony.
"One-half my lands I'll freely give.
All! all!" he cried, in accents wild,
"So that the innocent may live.
Oh! save my wife, and spare my child."
"Loehbuie!" Galium Dhu replied,
"Gold can never indemnify
For loss of honor, nor can hide
The stains of open infamy.
" Me wantonly you have disgrac'd,
' Ay me, altho' full well you knew
Tour confidence was ne'er misplaced
When giv'n in trust to Galium Dhu.
" To me your life you once have owed ; "
And opening his chequer'd vest.
He with his finger proudly showed
A cicatrice upon his breast.
"To you your angel wife is dear,
To mo more dear than life and light
Is Flora® who with soul sincere
Her maiden troth to mo did plight.
*Flora was the laird's sister. It is also related that the laird, suspecting that an attachment existed
between the two, caused Malcolm to be maimed. Malcolm swore vengenee, and declared to his mother
that the laird's seed should not rule in Loehbuie. His demand was that tlie laird should be likewise
maimed. They tried to pass off the maiming of a sheep upon Malcolm, but he demanded to know just
how and where the pains he felt. When this was accomplished, he destroyed both the child and himself.