THE
SCOTTISH JOURNAL
OF
Topography, Antiquities, Traditions,

&c. &c.

No. 22. Edinburgh, Saturday, January 29, 1848. Price 1½d.

SOME PARTICULARS REGARDING THE FAMILY OF INVERNAHYLE.

COPIED FROM A MANUSCRIPT IN THE POSSESSION OF DR THOMSON, LATE OF APPIN, BY JOSEPH TRAIN.

ALEXANDER, the first Invernahyle, was son to Allan Stewart, third Laird of Appin. He married Margaret Macdonald, daughter of Donald Macdonald of Moidart, commonly called Donul an Lochan.[[1]] He had only one child, Donald, who succeeded him. Alexander, it would appear, lived in Island Stalker. He rose early on a summer morning, and stepped over to the Nan Gall,[[2]] which lies contiguous. He had in his hand a Lochaber axe, which at that period was frequently used instead of the sword. He reclined upon a verdant spot of the isle, with his Lochaber axe laid carelessly by him. A deadly feud existed at that time between his family and that of Dunstaffnage. A brother of Dunstaffnage, called Cailen Uaine,[[3]] arrived at the island with his barge, and a number of men to assist him in executing his bloody purpose. He landed unperceived by Alexander. Upon being observed, he assumed the mask of friendship, and was about to salute him; but, seeing Alexander defenceless, he cast his eye on the axe, which still lay upon the ground, and eager to be possessed of that which, if in the hands of the other, might make him pay dear for his expedition, he hastily grasped it, expressing himself thus—“Sma an tua so Alasdair na on bioda leor sauich innte.”[[4]] Alexander quickly replied—“Bheil duil agad nach eil sin innte,”[[5]] and also laid hold of the axe, being fully sensible of the spirit of Colin’s remark. During the struggle, Colin’s men surrounded Alexander, and basely murdered him. Donald, his infant son, was suckled by Morag, a woman from Moidart, and wife to Rab a Pheti, the smith of that district. Colin, foreseeing that the black deed he had committed might not pass unrevenged, was very anxious to destroy the child. In this, however, he was disappointed by the prudence and activity of the faithful nurse, who, with a strength of attachment truly valuable, understanding what had happened, regardless of her own safety, fled away with the child to her own country. Having informed her husband of the circumstances, they agreed to bring up the child as if he was their own, and to keep the secret of his parentage concealed from the world, even from himself, till a proper time arrived for disclosing it.

Donald was accordingly educated in the family of Rab a Pheti, the blacksmith. When he acquired some strength, he was often called to assist his supposed father in carrying on his trade. Being of a strong, athletic make, he performed every task proposed to him with ease, little thinking he had any right to be otherwise employed. One day, when about eighteen years of age, it being his turn to work in the smithy, he took hold of a large hammer, which required the strength of any ordinary man to wield with both hands, and, of course, deemed too unweildly for a stripling of his age, yet he found so little difficulty in managing it, that he wrought it with one hand; and not satisfied with this exertion, he took another hammer of the same size in his other hand, and beat away with both alternately, without much apparent exertion. His supposed father, Rab a Pheti, seeing this, gave up his work and went to the faithful nurse to tell what he had seen. This honest couple, who had as much affection for Donald as though he had been their own child, came to the resolution of disclosing to him the secret they had so long kept of his birth and parentage. Donald was called, and the mournful tale of his father’s death, and the risk he ran of sharing the same fate, was circumstantially laid before him. If we can judge by his future actions, we may conclude that he listened to the mournful story with strong emotions. The smith took him in his arms and embraced him. “Your education,” he said, “has been necessarily obscure, but I trust the blood that runs in your veins, and the spirit of your fathers, will ever inspire your conduct and direct your steps.” The smith then presented him with a sword, tempered with all the art of his trade, praying it might be the means of clearing his way through difficulties, and extricating him from every danger. Donald received it as a valuable token of love. Nor did he allow it long to remain peaceful in its scabbard. Previous to his setting out for Appin, he, by the advice of his foster-mother, Morag, waited on his mother’s brother, Macdonald of Moidart, who gave him a very warm and hearty reception, and offered freely to support him with his interest and influence in recovering his paternal property, which had been taken back to the family, on the supposition of his death when a child.[[6]]