100 SCOTLAND ILLUSTRATED. 



therefore, in complete armour, with a dirk for they had no " Doune pistols" 

 in those days in his belt, and a huge claymore that descended in a steel 

 scabbard to his left heel, he sallied forth at that favourable hour when the snake 

 was wont to indulge in the luxury of a siesta. As he rowed towards the little 

 bay which indented the island paradise, he felt his courage even greater than 

 the occasion which called it forth. The charms of Mego the gentle " fruit- 

 fancying" Mego gave fervour to his heart, and fluency to his lips. His voice 

 kept tune, and his oars kept time ; and, chanting her praises as the little prow 

 skimmed the blue wave, he soon reached the calm anchorage, and felt through 

 his whole frame the breezy fragrance of a celestial atmosphere. This, however, 

 did not in the least enervate him ; he had come to slay the snake, and secure 

 the fruit in good earnest ; and, having quite another scent to gratify, he resolutely 

 shut his olfactories against the intruding perfumes, and, directed by the sense 

 of sight only, sprang desperately on shore. At this instant a new world opened 

 upon him ; over his head, boughs laden with delicious fruit, as various in hue 

 as the rainbow, tempted him to indulge his taste. Flowers sprang up at his 

 feet, and filled the whole air with aromatic odours. Leaves and plants distilled 

 ambrosia, celestial music issued from every recess, and he felt as if he had been 

 translated, bodily, into the habitation of spirits. He thought he heard the 

 harp of Ossian, saw the heroes of Fingal gliding through the leafy vralks, and 

 almost forgot the lover's errand on which he had come. Collecting his scattered 

 ideas, upbraiding himself with criminally indulging his own pleasure, and never 

 thinking of the fruit, he made up instantly to one of the finest trees in the 

 garden, and set about stripping it in the name of his beloved Mego. " Why," 

 said he to himself, as he crammed the corners of his flowing plaid and philibeg 

 with the precious fruit " why, they told me of a snake ! . . . I see no snake, and 

 fear none !" And so he continued the plunder. The next moment, however, 

 the huge monster was in motion. Opening its hideous jaws, and uncoiling its 

 scaly circles, it advanced in a series of terrible gyrations towards the rash 

 depredator. " So, so !" said Fraoch, with an air of supreme indifference, and, 

 drawing his claymore, placed -himself in an attitude of perfect defiance. This, 

 however, did not arrest the scaly monster ; on the contrary, he showed an 

 additional length of sting, and a determination to act on the offensive. " Take 

 that," said Fraoch, " and that !" striking most manfully to right and left. 

 But, alas ! the edge of his well-tempered blade fell on its scaly armour as if 

 it had fallen upon Macnab's anvil!* His blows were redoubled; but the snake 







* Names famous among the ancient armourers of the Highlands. See M'Nicol's Notes. 



