THE BROOCH. BRUCE AND LORN. OBAN. 97 



in the strongest light. According to the tradition preserved by the family of 

 Lorn, their chieftain engaged in personal conflict with Bruce, while the latter 

 was anxiously covering the retreat of his men. Macdougall was struck down 

 by the king, who was no less remarkable for his corporeal than for his mental 

 vigour, and would have been slain on the spot, had not three of his vassals, 

 named Mac Keoch, father and sons, rescued him, by seizing the king's mantle, 

 and dragging him from above his adversary. But of these Bruce speedily rid 

 himself by his redoubted battle-axe ; he was so closely pressed, however, by the 

 other followers of Lorn, that he was forced to abandon the mantle, and brooch 

 which fastened it, in the dying grasp of the Mac Keochs : 



" When tliis brooch, 8 triumphant borne, 

 Beamed upon the breast of Lorn I 4 * 



Oban is a neat, handsome, and beautifully situated village ; its appearance 

 from the bay is particularly striking. The houses, drawn out in a semicircle, 

 rise from the water's edge, and with a fine basin in front, and a bold undu- 

 lating range of mountains behind, present an appearance highly picturesque. 

 During the gay season, when the shore is crowded with spectators, and the bay 

 enlivened with numerous small craft as happens during the regatta, when the 

 prize is contested by pleasure yachts the scene becomes doubly animated. 



For several years past, Oban has been much frequented during the summer 

 and autumn, and has now a name among the fashionable watering places of the 

 country. In addition to its attractions as an excellent sea-bathing station, 

 it has also several powerful chalybeate and sulphurous springs, lately discovered 

 in the immediate neighbourhood. Here the student of mineralogy, and the 

 admirers of Highland landscape, will find ample means of gratification 



" Gazing on pathless glen and mountain high ; 

 Listing, where from the cliffs the torrents thrown 

 Mingle their echoes with the eagle's cry, 

 And with the sounding lake, and with the moaning sky." SCOTT. 



All over the coast evident marks of the former height of the sea may be 

 observed in the formation of regular banks, and in excavations of the softer 

 rocks, which it has effected. These are of corresponding elevation, and run 

 along the shores in a direct line as far as the eye can reach. The brecria and 



It appears that great art and expense were formerly bestowed upon the buckle, or brooch, used for 

 securing the plaid, when the wearer was a person of distinction. It was as broad, says Martin, as an 

 ordinary pewter plate, the whole curiously engraved with various animals. A lesser, worn in the middle 

 of the other, was set with precious stones a larger one in the centre, and smaller ones surrounding it, as 

 observed in the art of modern jewellery. 



VOL. II. C C 



