Series 1 > Grameid: an heroic poem descriptive of the campaign of Viscount Dundee in 1689, and other pieces

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PANURGI PHILOCABALLI
[89-98
Ostro inter pictis induti vestibus omnes
Altaque puniceis evincti crura cothurnis,
Horrebant longe telis, et corpora scutis
Protecti, crudo succinctique inguina ferro,
Defensique cavis umbonibus aere rigebant.
Quos juxta egregiis Glencoius ibat in armis,
Horridus, et bibulo contectus pectora tergo,
Os humerosque super totum longe eminet agmen.
Ilium in bella viri centum comitantur euntem,
Mole superbi omnes, horrendi et viribus omnes.
red buskin. Afar they bristle with spears, and they stand firm
with sword belted round their loins, with shields strengthened
with brazen knobs protecting their bodies. Next came Glencoe1
terrible in unwonted arms, covered as to his breast with raw hide,
and towering far above his whole line by head and shoulders. A
hundred men, all of gigantic mould, all mighty in strength, accom¬
pany him as he goes to the war. He himself, turning his shield
in his hand, flourishing terribly his sword, fierce in aspect, rolling
next in age to himself, and on whom his now aged father had settled the lands
and barony of Scotus. He would thus naturally be second in command to his
brother, and his independent property would contribute the separate company of
one hundred men referred to. Till 1868 the chiefship of Glengarry went on in
the family of Alastair Dubh, when it passed to the descendants of the younger,
Angus of Scotus, through the failure of male issue. The present representative
of Alastair Dubh is Mrs. Cunninghame of Balgownie, daughter of Tineas
Ranaldson Macdonell of Glengarry, who parted with the estates of the family.
Another brother of Glengarry took the field with him, Donald, who was killed
at Killiecrankie. [Since the above was in print, Mrs. Cuninghame has passed
to her fathers, leaving an only son, John Alastair, who now possesses the
‘ Craggan-an-fhithich,’ with the ruin of the old castle, the old family burying-
ground, and other interesting relics of his family.]
1 This is Alastair Macdonald or MTan, the chief who suffered in the
massacre. He is described by Balhaldy as ‘ strong, active, and of the biggest
size; much loved by his neighbours, and blameless in his conduct. He was a
person of great integrity, honour, good-nature, and courage, and his loyalty to
King James was such that he continued in arms from Dundee’s first appearing
in the Highlands till the fatal treaty which brought on his ruin.’—Lochiets
Memoirs, page 321. The family is descended from Angus Og, the faithful
supporter of Robert Bruce, against his own brother, Alastair, Lord of the Isles,
and the M'Dougals of Lome. Angus succeeded to the whole possessions of his
brother, and, dying early in the fourteenth century, left two sons, John, his succes¬
sor in the Isles, and John Og or Fraoch, the ancestor of this family of Glencoe.
James Malcolm, a witness in the process of forfeiture, ‘ depones that he saw a
man called the Laird of Glencoe in arms with the rebels at Badenoch, Strathspey,
and several other places, and that he had a brass blunderbuss, and a buff coat.’
—Act. Pari.