The following verses by Mr James G. Whittier, the American poet, though not quite exact in descriptive details, refer so touchingly to the holy well of Isle Maree (see [page 151] et seq.) that I must quote them here:—
"Calm on the breast of Loch Maree
A little isle reposes;
A shadow woven of the oak
And willow o'er it closes.
Within a Druid's mound is seen,
Set round with stony warders,
A fountain, gushing through the turf,
Flows o'er its grassy borders.
And whoso bathes therein his brow,
With care or madness burning,
Feels once again his healthful thought
And sense of peace returning.
O restless heart and fevered brain,
Unquiet and unstable,
That holy well of Loch Maree
Is more than idle fable!
Life's changes vex, its discords stun,
Its glaring sunshine blindeth,
And blest is he who on his way
That fount of healing findeth!
The shadows of a humbled will
And contrite heart are o'er it;
Go read its legend—'Trust in God'—
On Faith's white stones before it."
Eilean Suainne is the largest of the islands. It is nearly a mile long. Within it is a small loch, with two small islands, on one of which is a large fir tree. Beneath this tree the fairies used to assemble ([Part II., chap. xiii.]), and in its branches an osprey used to build its nest. Another osprey built on a headland of this island ([Part III., chap. vi].). There are traces of the remains of the residence of Alastair Breac, laird of Gairloch, and of some of the older chiefs of the Mackenzies, on this island, as well as of bothies where illicit distillation used to be carried on.
Eilean Ruaridh Mor is called after a celebrated chief of the Macleods. On this island, as well as on Garbh Eilean and Eilean Suainne, the illicit distillation of whisky was extensively conducted in the early part of the nineteenth century.
To the west of Eilean Ruaridh Mor is the small island known as Eilean Ruaridh Beag (or "the little island of Rorie"), formerly the residence of Ruaridh M'Leod, and subsequently of John Roy Mackenzie ([Part I., chap. xxi.]).