IN THE HIGHLANDS 61 



me which parts of Loch Gairloch were fishing best. He 

 said his heart was in Gairloch, and a common saying of 

 his was that he would rather meet a dog from Gairloch 

 than the grandest gentleman from any other place. I 

 always felt it a feather in my cap having known so well 

 my grand-uncle, who had served under the Earl of 

 Cromartie, who had fought at Culloden on Prince 

 Charlie's side ! General John raised a whole company 

 of a hundred men for the 78th Kegiment of Eoss-shire 

 Highlanders, every man of them from the Gairloch 

 property, and he died in 1860, aged ninety-seven, 

 honoured and beloved by everyone. He had been sent 

 to France as a boy and spoke French like a Frenchman, 

 and his good Gaelic was a great help to him among his 

 devoted men when fighting the French in the Peninsula. 

 Speaking of his manners, my mother often told me that 

 when living at Pviverford, near Conon, he used to look 

 in constantly in the afternoons, and, after a chat, when 

 he left the room he always found his way out without 

 turning his back on his hostess. 



It was such a joy to me as a child walking over to 

 Kerrysdale and being spoilt there with the kindness 

 and hospitality of old Uncle Kenneth and Aunty Flora 

 and their charming daughters and grandchildren. I 

 remember so well in 1861 or 1862, when I was about 

 nineteen, going to call on my old grand-uncle Kenneth at 

 Kerrysdale, he being then past ninety. On my telHng 

 him that I was thinking of buying Inverewe, he brightened 

 up, and told me that, when he was an ensign of only 

 fifteen, one of the first jobs he had to do after getting 

 his commission was to go with a party of non-commis- 

 sioned officers and men to get recruits from Aird House, 



