Clan Gillean

Lachlan Mor. 155
lean, came to the house. They broke in the door;
but Neil escaped and fled towards Bealach Ruadh.
At Clachan Dubh he was met by a band of Mac-
lean's men. A fight took place and Neil was left
half dead on the ground. When his assailants
were some distance on the way home, one of them,
Dugald Roy Mac Alpin, said, I should not wonder
if Neil Mor would come alive yet. The whole
band immediately returned. They found Neil on
his knees and the palms of his hands. They
attacked him again and tore him apart into such
small bits that it was in a bed-rug he was taken
home.
Ridiculous as the foregoing story is, we have
reason to think that there are some persons who
regard it as genuine history. They heard it from
their fathers, and they believe that their fathers had
it word for word as it existed originally. They
make no allowance for the changes which a story
undergoes in being handed down from one genera-
tion to another.
The Maclean referred to is Lachlan Mor. He
had no brother, but he had a step-father, Hector
Mac Allan, and a step-father who was plotting
against his life and deserved to be put to death.
Hector Mac Allan was not in Ireland at all, but
Lachlan Mor was in the Lowlands about three
years. Thus Hector Mac Allan and himself were
parted during the period stated. Hector Mac
Allan was beheaded in Coll in 1578 ; but Lachlan
Mor was not present at the execution ; neither was