IN THE HIGHLANDS 25 



Kenneth Mackenzie, seventh baronet of Gairloch and 

 thirteenth in direct succession to Hector Roy, and I 

 should not be at Inverewe ! 



I may mention that for many generations the few 

 Macleods left in the district were naturally very un- 

 popular in the parish, even as late as my grandfather 

 Sir Hector's time. If he asked a question as to the name 

 of a man, and the man happened unluckily to be a 

 Macleod, the answer to my grandfather was certain to 

 be apologetic, and as follows : " Le hhur cead Shir 

 Eachainn se Leodach a th-ann " {" By your leave, Sir 

 Hector, it is a Macleod that is in him "). There is one 

 thing, however, I must add in favour of the Macleods. 

 My dear mother and I often remarked about the few 

 scattered remnants of that clan among our crofter 

 population, that they were distinguished by a very 

 superior personal beauty . Often on our making enquiries 

 regarding a specially handsome family of Mackenzies 

 or some other clan, it would turn out that the mother or 

 grandmother had been a Macleod. Another thing we 

 noticed was the similarity of the type of face of our 

 crofter Macleods to our friends the Dunvegan and 

 other Skye Macleods. They are usually tall, with pale, 

 oval faces, blue eyes, and specially fine aquiline noses, 

 never with flat and broad faces, with sandy hair, snub 

 noses, and red cheeks, such as are to be found in other 

 clans. 



And now I ought perhaps to say something about what 

 Gairloch did in the '45. Well, I fear I can tell very little 

 except that my grandfather's grandfather. Sir Alexander, 



