Alexander Grant, the Great Bard of Slaggan.

Alexander Grant, known as "Bard mor an t' Slaggan," or "the great bard of Slaggan," was born at Mellon Charles about 1742. His ancestor came to Gairloch from Strathspey, as attendant to Anne, daughter of Sir John Grant of Grant, who was married in 1640 to Kenneth Mackenzie, sixth laird of Gairloch. Most of the bard's life was passed at Slaggan, but shortly before his death he removed with his son to Tournaig, where he died in 1820 (or perhaps later), being about eighty years of age. The title bestowed on Sandy Grant of the "great bard" would perhaps be more correctly translated as the "big bard," for it was given him on account of his enormous stature and strength rather than for his merits as a poet. In height he was a giant, far exceeding in size any man then or now living in Gairloch; nor had he his equal in point of muscular strength. He did not fight; but on one occasion there was a row, to quell which the great bard caught Donald Morrison, of Drumchork, and held him fast by the hand. Donald, though himself a giant as compared with most men, was a pigmy by the side of Sandy Grant, and neither he nor all the bystanders could pull the bard's hand from his. Another proof of his great strength is remembered. In that day black periwinkles were plentiful, and were a favourite article of food; only two men in the country could break or crush a handful of them by the mere force of their grasp, viz., Sir Hector Mackenzie of Gairloch and the "great bard." It is doubtful whether any man could be found in Gairloch to perform this feat in the present day.

Sandy Grant was not so eminent a bard as were his contemporaries William Ross and Alastair Buidhe. He composed comparatively few songs or poems. In manner he is described as having been a "blunt" man. In appearance he was most remarkable for his gigantic form, already alluded to. I can get no positive information what was his exact height in inches; he far exceeded the height generally considered that of a tall man, and I am told he certainly stood more than seven feet in his stockings. The bard was a fine-looking man in face, features, and expression. A portrait of him, which they say was an excellent likeness, appeared in the first edition of John Mackenzie's "Beauties of Gaelic Poetry." John Mackenzie made a collection of Sandy Grant's poems, intending to publish them in a new edition of the "Beauties," but death frustrated this design, and the poems seem to have been lost.

The "bard mor" was a canny man, if we may judge from the following amusing anecdote, which is quite authentic, and illustrates the superstitions of the times. It was told me by James Mackenzie:— There was a man in Loch Carron who had his cheeses stolen from his barn by a neighbour. Now Sandy Grant, the "bard mor," was reputed to have the power of discovering things that had been lost, by the faculty of second-sight. The worthy but simple-minded man who had been robbed of his cheeses sent a message immediately he discovered his loss to the bard at Slaggan, and requested that he would find out who had stolen them. The bard, who thought he saw a chance of earning an "honest penny," at once started on foot for Loch Carron. The man who had stolen the cheeses heard that the bard had been sent for, and was terrified; every day he walked out three miles on the road towards the north, hoping to intercept Sandy Grant. At last he met Sandy. Says he, "Are you not a stranger coming to Loch Carron?" "Yes," said Sandy, "I come from Slaggan." "Well," he says, "I am the man that stole the cheeses, and I'll give you fifteen shillings if you will not tell that I am the man." The bard replied, "Of course I know it was you that stole the cheeses, but where did you put them?" "Oh, dear!" said the man, "I put them in a peat-stack at the back of the township." "Yes; I know that," said Sandy, "but which stack did you put them in?" He replied, "The one that's farthest from the township altogether." "Are you sure that you put all the cheeses there?" again asked the cautious bard. "Yes," the man said, "I put them all there, but one cheese is out of count." "Well," said the bard, "I will not tell your name; when once they get the cheeses they will be satisfied." The Loch Carron man gave him the fifteen shillings, and as they passed his house he pressed the bard to come in and have a dram. "Oh, no, no," said Sandy; "be off, that they may not suspect we have been together." Then they parted, and the bard went to the house of the man who had sent for him. After refreshing the inner man, Sandy was asked to state who had stolen the cheeses, and where they now were. "Well," he said, "I will not tell you who stole them, but I will tell you where they are." He then asked what he was to receive for coming all the way from Slaggan. The man inquired how much he asked. Sandy named twenty-five shillings, and that sum was paid to him. "When to-morrow comes," said he "I will tell you where the cheeses are; but I must warn you that there will be one cheese missing." The next day the cheeses were duly discovered and restored to their rightful owner, and the "bard mor" returned to Slaggan with both the fifteen shillings and the twenty-five shillings in his pocket, making two pounds,—in those days a more considerable sum than it is now.

The Grants, who formerly lived at Mellon Udrigil but are now at Londubh, are descendants of the "Bard mor an t'Slaggan."

Chapter XXII.

John Mackenzie of the "Beauties."

John Mackenzie, piper, poet, and author, is best remembered as having been the collector and editor of the work entitled the "Beauties of the Gaelic Language." He was born 17th July 1806, at Mellon Charles. He was the eldest son of "Alastair Og," who, like his father before him, was tacksman of all the lands on the north side of Loch Ewe belonging to the lairds of Gairloch. John Mackenzie's mother was Margaret, daughter of Mr Mackenzie of Badachro. On the father's side he was fifth in direct male descent from Alastair Cam, youngest son of Alastair Breac, fifth laird of Gairloch. He was educated primarily at home, afterwards at a small school on Isle Ewe, and finally at the parish school of Gairloch. From childhood he evinced a peculiar delight in reading, and especially devoted himself to the study of the songs and music of his native district. While a mere child he made a fiddle for himself, and later on a set of bagpipes, using no other instrument or tool than his pocket-knife. He became an excellent piper, and could also play the piano, fiddle, flute, and several other instruments. His parents, seeing his skill with his knife, apprenticed him to a travelling joiner named William Ross. During his travels with his master, John Mackenzie found congenial employment in noting down the Gaelic songs and tales floating among his countrymen. While executing some work at the manse of Gairloch he received a severe blow on the head, which for a time incapacitated him. On partially recovering he went to a carpenter at Conan Bridge to complete his apprenticeship, but he soon found that the injury to his head was of such a permanent character as to unfit him to pursue his trade further. Nor was he sorry to give up what was by no means congenial to his taste. He returned to Gairloch, and employed himself in collecting the poems of William Ross, most of which he obtained from Alexander Campbell. He spent twenty-one nights taking down Ross's poems from the lips of Alastair Buidhe. He seems from this time to have given himself up to literary work, and strenuously he laboured at it, spending some twelve years in travelling through the Highlands collecting materials for his great work the "Beauties of Gaelic Poetry." While thus travelling he procured a large list of subscribers for this work and other publications. In 1833 he left his native parish, and in the same year appeared "The Poems of William Ross, the Gairloch bard," with "The History of Mac Cruislig; a Highland Tale," in one volume; and several other works of minor importance. Within the year a second edition of Ross's poems was called for. In 1836 he obtained a situation as bookkeeper in the Glasgow University Printing-office. The "Beauties" appeared in 1841. He disposed of the copyright for a mere trifle to a publishing firm in Glasgow, he himself engaging to superintend the work while passing through the press, a labour which undermined his never very robust constitution. His next work of importance was the "History of Prince Charles," in Gaelic, which was published by an Edinburgh firm. This was a translation, but poor John Mackenzie received very small remuneration for his skill and labour. The publication of these works brought him considerable fame in literary circles, and he soon after obtained an engagement with Messrs Maclachlan & Stewart, Edinburgh, at one pound per week. He produced for them translations into Gaelic of Baxter's "Call to the Unconverted;" Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," "Come and Welcome," "World to Come," "Grace Abounding," "Water of Life," and "Sighs from Hell;" as also, Dyer's "Christ's Famous Titles," and Guthrie's "Christian's Great Interest." John Mackenzie was also the author of the English-Gaelic part of the dictionary known as MacAlpine's. He produced an enlarged edition of the poems of Duncan Ban Macintyre, and various other works. In all he composed, edited, or translated above thirty publications. His last completed work was "MacAlpine's Dictionary." In 1847 he issued a prospectus for an enlarged edition of the "Beauties." He was also the sub-editor of the Cuairtear nan Gleann; and he wrote some original Gaelic sermons, for Highland ministers who were too ignorant of the language to compose their own sermons in it. At the time of his death he was preparing a new edition of the Gaelic Bible, which he left in an incomplete state. Being in very weak health he returned in May 1848, after an absence of fourteen years, to his father's house at Kirkton, or Inverewe, where, after a lingering illness, he died on 19th August 1848, aged forty-two years. He was buried in the old chapel in the churchyard at Gairloch. Almost the whole population of the district attended the funeral.

John Mackenzie was slenderly built, fair-haired, and sharp-featured. He was from his youth upwards considered quite a character in his native district. He composed several pieces of his own, but not of the highest order. He made a song in 1830 to Mary Sudge (with whom he had fallen in love), and published it in his "Cruitear; or Gaelic Melodist." He also composed an excellent song to a weaver's loom. He became well known as a good piper; he and John Macrae of Raasay used to be judges of pipe music at the Edinburgh competitions.