The one demon of the Gael is dead,
A tale ’tis well to remember,
Fierce ravager of Church and cross,
The bald-head, heavy, worthless boar.
First of all from hell he came,
The tale’s an easy one to tell,
Armed with the devil’s venomous spear.
But he was surely, firmly bound,
Ere quitting the black house of hell,
To the same stronghold to return,
And leave the Star of Paradise.
Then, when came the black skinned boar,
Many the devils in his train,
Each of them with horrid sound,
Their voices all in one loud strain.
Lest that he should nothing have,
It was apportioned by Mac Ruarie,[251]
As a covenant firmly fixed,
That in hell he’d live a dog.
Righteous and just is now the claim
Which Allan has against the devils.
Whatever share may be their own,
He, I think, should have much glory.
’Tis time to cease now from that band,
Of horrid sounds, and cruel heart.
Mac Ruarie from the ocean far,
Wealth thou’st got without an effort.
’Tis a report we can’t neglect,
For with Columba I must meet,
’Tis a report that fills the land,
Bald-head Allan, thou so faithless,
That thou hast, not thine only crime,
Ravaged I[252] and Relig[253] Oran.
Fiercely didst thou then destroy
Priests’ vestments and vessels for the mass.
Thou art Inche Gall’s[254] great curse,
Her revenue and stronghold spoil’st;
Thou art the man whose heart is worst
Of all who followed have thy chief,
Save one who stands at his left hand,
And he, Mac Ruarie, is thy brother.
Now thy fight we never hear,
But from the cross we hear thee cursed;
The two are good who are about thee,
Black indeed they are in form.
At the time thou first mad’st war,
There was the Abbot’s horrid corpse,
Besides that other lawless raid
Against Finan[255] in Glengarry.
Thine own cruel, hateful deeds,
Have cursed thy bald-head body, Allan,
Just as crime will always do,
Revenge itself on who commits it.
The country side, with its protest,
Has stamped mad rage on Allan’s face.
Thine own country and thy friends,
Thou hast cruelly oppressed.
The last of thy goodness was lost
Between the Sheil and the Hourn,
’Tis no wonder thou didst keep
Far away, Allan, from the gallows.
The fame which men had given thee,
Extends to thy mother and thy sister.
Time it is to cease from satire,
Worthless, cruel son of Ruarie.
Though learning which helps not manners,
The sound of thy wailing is pleasant.
The one demon.
The son has been found like his father,[256]
Above all chiefs whom we have known,
His bearing, countenance, and mind,
And with me he dwells in Lewis.
The knowledge and mind of a chief,
With which he’ll make prosperous times.
I say of this young son we’ve got,
That he is just another Roderick;[257]
How like each other are their locks,
His father’s honour to his ringlets.
In battle, too, how like the praise
Of Torquil[258] and his famous father.
Of all that in Torquil’s time may come,
None of his friends shall suffer loss,
Great deeds and victories will be,
Such as Mac Calman[259] may relate.
Many his gifts which we might praise,
Torquil of the famous race;
His are a hero’s strength and vigour,
Which he brings into the fight.
I say of him, and say in truth,
Since I have come so well to know him,
That never was there of his age
Better king who ruled in Lewis.
To him belonged the “Cairge mhordha,”[260]
The richest jewel sailed the sea,
Given it was to Mac Vic Torquil,
With which to reach his people’s land.
Mac Ruarie of cheerful music,
Had also the old cleaving sword,
Another jewel of sure effect,
’Twas given him by the King of Aineach.[261]
Since he so many presents had,
’Twas needless for him to go and seek.
A shield he had cleft in the head,
Another jewel, sounding loud.
Without he had a noble herd
Of horses, with their trappings red;
’Twouldn’t suit a man like him
Not to have many swift-paced steeds.
His was the Du Seivlin,
M’Leod’s, whom the bards would sing.
’Twas hard for those to take that horse,
Whoe’er they were that might him seek.
Torquil had many youths
Who never trembled in battle,
Who for his race seized on all lands,
A race that aye the conflict loved.
Not braver of his age was Cuchullin,
Not hardier was he than Torquil,
Him of the ready, vigorous arm,
Who boldly breaks through any breach.
Beloved though Mac Vic Torquil is,
I can’t enough his beauty praise;
He who is fair as he is the brave,
The key to every woman’s heart.
There is no son of king or chief
Of whose fame we’ve ever heard,
Though we’ve had much to do with such,
That better are to us than Torquil.
Catherine,[262] daughter of Mac Cailen,
Whose soft hand’s worthy of thy race,
Daughter of the Earl of Argyle,
Best of the women we have found.
To our isle we’ve got a woman,
Branch of a great and famous tree.
Daughter of Mac Cailen, young and gentle,
Whose locks in flowing ringlets fall.
The son.
[250] It has been suggested to the Editor that this poet might have
been the chief of the Macnabs, the chief of this period being Finlay
Macnab of Boquhan; and we know that the Macnabs counted themselves of
the same lineage with the Macgregors. There is much in the composition
given here, however, to indicate his being an ecclesiastic.
[251] We learn from Greg. High. pp. 65, 66, that Allan MacRuari,
great-grandson of Ranald, and chief of clan Ranald, was one of the
principal supporters of Angus, the young Lord of the Isles, at the
battle of the Bloody Bay; and that he also followed Alexander of
Lochalsh in his invasion of Ross and Cromarty in 1491, receiving a
large share of the booty taken on the occasion. The poet describes him
as a sacrilegious marauder.
[252] The ecclesiastical establishment at Iona. The Reformers had
probably less to do with the destruction of the buildings in Iona than
is generally thought.
[253] The church of St. Oran in Iona.
[254] The Hebrides were known as “Innsegall,” or _the islands of the
strangers_, probably since the rise of the kingdom of the Norsemen
there.
[255] The church of Kilfinan, at the east end of Loch Lochy, where is
still the burying-place of the M’Donells of Glengarry.
[256] There is no author’s name given for this spirited eulogy. The
author was probably a family bard of the Siol Torcuil, or M’Leods of
Lewis.
[257] Roderick M’Leod of Lewis was head of the Siol Torcuil, or _sons
of Torquil_, in 1493. (Greg. High. p. 73.)
[258] Torquil was second son of Roderick M’Leod of Lewis, the eldest
having been killed in the battle of the Bloody Bay. Torquil was
forfeited for harbouring Donald dubh, son of Angus Og of Islay. (Greg.
High. p. 73.)
[259] Probably the chief bard of the Siol Torcuil.
[260] “Cairbhe” is _a ship_. This was probably the name of Torquil’s
galley, although spelled “cairge” by the Dean.
[261] “Aineach,” a castle of the O’Kanes, within a few miles of Derry.
The King of Aineach was chief of the O’Kanes.
[262] Catharine, daughter of Colin, 2d Earl of Argyle, who married
Torquil Macleod of the Lewis.