Wanderings of a Naturalist 



Macleans. In the year 1679 a great exi>edition was organized 

 against Mull by the Earl of Argyll. In the course of this 

 expedition Carn a' burg was besieged and its castle taken; 

 probably this is the last occasion on which this famous old 

 castle figures in the conflicts of the clans. Old records show 

 that no fewer than 200 galleys and boats conveyed 2,647 

 men to Mull, among them many pipers, on that famous 

 expedition. 



In former times each Highland chief had his piper, who 

 accompanied him on all his travels. Many of these pipers 

 were hereditary, the most famous family of them all being 

 the MacCrimmons, pipers to the chiefs of the MacLeods. 

 The MacCrimmons had their piping school at Borreraig in 

 the Isle of Skye, where pupils assembled from all parts of the 

 Highlands and even from Ireland, to be instructed in the 

 Coel Mor or "big music." At the present day piping in 

 Mull and the adjacent islands is a little known art. The only 

 man, to the writer's knowledge, who can play many of the 

 old tunes is a veteran of over four-score years in the island 

 of Coll, who bemoans the fact that none of the younger 

 generation of pipers on that island will be able to carry on 

 the old music after his death. 



At the present day the Treshnish Islands are quite un- 

 inhabited, and are interesting to the ornithologist from the 

 great numbers of seafowl which frequent them during the 

 nesting season. Thither these come with the fine days of 

 early summer razorbills, guillemots, and puffins — the latter 

 bird in its thousands — so that the sea around is animated and 

 cheerful always during that season. 



A fine climate has this western coast and these sea-girt 

 islands of Argyll. Though the rainfall is high, the number 

 of wet days seem to be no greater than along the eastern 

 coast of Britain, though when it rains it does so in much 

 heavier volume. The air is soft and mild without being 

 relaxing, and the harsh winds of the north-east coast rarely 

 penetrate here. 



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