[ [195] The Macdougalls of Dunolly buried at the old Priory of Ardchattan, on the banks of Loch Etive.
[ [196] Connal Ferry, on Loch Etive.
[ [197] There is considerable obscurity about these lines. It would serve to elucidate the meaning if we knew of any feud between this chief and the clan Neil, or any person of the name of Neil belonging to any other Highland clan. The Editor has not been able to find any information on this subject.
[ [198] The original here is indistinct. The word “noid illeich,” made “an oide Ilich,” may be “nord Illeich,” or “an uird Ilich,” The Isla order, meaning some ecclesiastical order in Isla, by whom he was educated, or it may refer to the weapons of war for which Isla was famous.
[ [199] Alexander was Laird of Dunolly in 1493; Greg. High. p. 83. His son Duncan Carrach was slain young; Dean’s Obit. Greg. Ed. In Innes’ Orig. Par. vol. ii. pt. i. p. 114, we find that, in 1451, Stewart Lord of Lorn granted to John M’Alan of Lorn, called M’Cowle, and to John Keir (“ciar,” dark), his eldest son and heir, etc., twenty-nine marklands of the island of Caruvray, etc. These are probably the two Johns and Alexander of our bard. This holding of the Stewarts may explain the bard’s reference to the rule of the stranger.
[ [200] The word “duanaire,” here used in the original, means “a miscellany of poetical compositions.” The Dean’s MS. is a “duanaire,” but not a “duanaire nan strangair,” for the Dean seems to have been a most industrious compiler. This piece of M’Nab’s is a satire on lazy composers or compilers. It is valuable as showing that the ancient bards wrote their compositions. The number of such books must have been large, although during the course of centuries they seem to have perished with few exceptions.
[ [201] This poetess seems to have been the wife of the last M’Neil of Castle Sween. The name M’Corqudale is common in Kintyre.
[ [202] The word “paidrein,” derived from “Paidir,” The Lord’s Prayer, really means a rosary.
[ [203] Dunanoir was a castle on the island of Cape Clear, on the south-west coast of Ireland. See Miscell. of Celt. Soc. p. 143.
[ [204] The river Boyne. From Dunanoir to the Boyne included all Ireland.