58 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 



be killed, and said if it had been any other officer he would have been 

 killed. 



Mr. Anderson Did Malcolm Finlayson do anything ? He came to 

 me in a great hurry and said the people wished to speak to me ; and I 

 said I would be very glad. He asked me, If I had any summonses, 

 and I told him I had the principals and copies. He snatched them out 

 of my hand, and after trying to tear them threw them on the ground. 

 The crowd were about me at this time, and one of the prisoners, Peter 

 Macdonald, said something about burning the summonses. He said, 

 addressing me, "unless you burn these you will not go home alive". 

 There were murmurs among the crowd and I was asked to burn the 

 summonses. They tried to burn the summonses themselves first, and 

 tried to light them at a burning peat, but were unsuccessful. When I 

 was threatened with my life, I asked for a piece of paper, and one of the 

 crowd handed me a bit of the torn summons. I blew the burning peat 

 as hard as I could to make it burn and I lighted the piece paper at the 

 burning peat, and handed it to some one in the crowd, crying "go 

 ahead ". I was induced to do this, because I was afraid of my life, as 

 I had been told before I went up that I would be killed. Nothing else 

 induced me to burn the summonses. 



Mr. Anderson You were afraid of your life ? Yes ; I was, and I 

 was very glad to get away. (Laughter. ) 



Between the place where the summonses were torn and where they 

 were destroyed was there much stone-throwing? Yes, stones and clods, 

 but I was not struck with them. 



Did you see your assistants struck ? Well, I did not like to look 

 back (Laughter) but I think they must have been getting some of 

 them. 



When you got home you reported the matter to the Fiscal ? Yes. 



Cross-examined by Mr. Kenneth Macdonald What do you do ? I 

 am a sheriff-officer and auctioneer. 



Are you also a clerk in the office of Lord Macdonald's factor ? I am. 



Mr. Macdonald Anything else? I am sanitary inspector, clerk to 

 the Local Authority, and clerk to the Road Trustees. 



Do you hold many other offices ? I am a crofter. (Laughter.) 



In which capacity did you go to the Braes ? I went in my capacity 

 as sheriff-officer. I called in to Mr. Macdonald, the factor's office, that 

 morning to tell that I was going away for a time. I did not get the 

 summonses against these people signed as the Factor's clerk. They 

 were handed to me by the Sheriff-Clerk. I was instructed to get them 

 from him by Mr. Macdonald, and I proceeded to the Braes to serve 



