120 SCOTLAND ILLUSTRATED. 



acts of desperation by this treatment unmerited as it certainly was they 

 became notorious for acts of daring reprisal, and famous as systematic leviers of 

 black-mail. Among these, it may be superfluous to mention " Rob Roy Macgre- 

 gor," whose life and exploits have been so ably depicted in the novel of that name. 



The sound of the bagpipe in these glens fully corroborates what has been 

 observed by Gibbon, in his " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." " Expe- 

 rience," says he, " has proved that the mechanical operation of sounds, by quicken- 

 ing the circulation of the blood and spirits, will act on the human machine 

 more forcibly than the eloquence of reason and honour." Of this, the annexed 

 anecdote offers a remarkable illustration : * Beyond all memory or tradition, the 

 favourite instrument of the Scottish musicians is the bagpipe introduced, as 

 some have supposed, from the ancient Norwegians. The large bagpipe is the 

 instrument of the Highlanders employed in war, in funeral processions, for 

 marriages, and other great occasions. The smaller pipes are more generally 

 used for dancing tunes. A certain species of the wind music called pibrochs, 



which throw almost into shade the terrible system of persecution by which the inhabitants of Piedmont 

 and Dauphiny were hunted from cave to cave, and from rock to rock ; and with whom forgetting what 

 has been done and suffered in our own country we so keenly sympathize. Theirs was religious, this poli- 

 tical persecution. " And yet," says General Stewart, " this species of Algerine law did not destroy, nor 

 apparently influence in any manner, that spirit of loyalty, so characteristic of the Highlanders, which 

 the Macgregors evinced in the Great Rebellion. All of them who could carry arms although under 

 assumed names joined Montrose, and through his whole campaigns proved themselves loyal and true, 

 always ready to bear a part in the execution of his most daring attempts. Of the value of their services 

 to his father and himself, Charles II. was fully sensible ; and one of the first acts of parliament, after his 

 restoration, was to rescind that of 1633, and re-establish the name of Macgregor with all its natural and 

 legal rights. . . .But this relief was of only brief duration ; for, only five years after the Revolution, the 

 original act was renewed, under King William, and the Macgregors placed in the same state as in 1C33 ; 

 and which, though not enforced, was allowed to remain a blot on the statute-books till the parliamentary 

 session of 177 4-5." History of the CLAN GUEOOR, STEWART'S SKETCHES, &c. 



As a contrast to the preceding, we refer to the high office they were called on to fill at the memorable 

 epoch of 1822, when his late majesty George IV. visited his Scottish dominions. " We saw with parti- 

 cular interest," says the historian of that day, " the clan of the Macgregors whose sufferings and 

 proscriptions are so well known come forth so gallantly to attend the crown of Scotland, ' which still 

 they love, because their fathers wore.' " The tartan of the clan is red, with a sprig of mountain fir in the 

 bonnet. The high office of depositing the regalia in the castle, to which the Macgregors are hereditarily 

 entitled, we have already alluded to in a former part of this work. This clan, who trace their descent to 

 the Alpine kings, and thence called Clan-alpine, was once numerous in Balquhidder, Monteith, and 

 Glenorchy ; and they are still in great numbers in the district of Fearnon, on the north side of Loch-Tay, 

 on the south side of Glenlyon, in Fortingall, and on the north side of Loch-Rannach. 



At the battle of Quebec, in April 17CO, while the British troops were retreating in great confusion, 

 the general officer complained to a field officer of Fraser's regiment of the bad behaviour of his corps. 

 "Sir," answered the latter with some warmth, "you did very wrong in forbidding the pipes to play : 

 nothing encourages Highlanders so much in a day of action nay, even now, they would be of use." 

 " Let them blow then like the devil," replied the general, " if that will bring back the men." The next 

 instant the pipes struck up a favourite martial air : the Highlanders no sooner heard their native pibroch, 

 than they faced round, and formed with alacrity in the rear. The SCOTTISH GAEL, Sic. 



