Historical memoirs of Rob Roy and the Clan Macgregor

THE CLAN MACGREGOR. 47
of those districts. Nor does it seem that the
Macgregor of that period was inattentive to the
duties of religion, for his son became abbot of
Dunkeld, and as such, held unlimited control
over the spiritual concerns of his clan.
By such marks of superiority the power and
ambition of the clan were gradually extending,
and when they were farther dignified by a title
of nobility, and become lords Macgregors of
Glenurchy, their consequence appeared so well
established, and their vassals so numerous, that
they could cope with the most elevated families
of the kingdom. If we except the clan of Mac-
donald, the territories occupied by the Mac-
gregors, for some centuries, were more consider-
able than those of any other tribe ; and in order
to secure their inheritance in various quarters, a
lord Macgregor of the thirteenth century, built
the castles of Kilchurn on a peninsulated rock
in Lochawe, the castle of Finlarig at the west,
and that of Ballach, since named Taymouth, at
the east end of Loch Tay, together with the old
castle in the lake of Lochdochart, and other
strongholds. The original appearance of these
fortresses, during the violent contentions of the
different clans into whose hands they succes-
sively fell, was varied by additions or mutila-