THE LARGE STAG OF MONA-LIA 41 



Thrice the age of a dog is that of a horse ; 

 Thrice the age of a horse is that of a man ; 

 Thrice the age of a man is that of a deer ; 

 Thrice the age of a deer is that of an eagle ; 

 Thrice the age of an eagle is that of an oak tree. 



Setting aside the extravagance of this adage, I venture 

 to mention that, according to tradition, Captain Macdonald, 

 of Tulloch, in Lochaber,* who died in 1776, at the age of 

 eighty-six, knew the white hind of Lochtreig for the last 

 fifty years of his life ; his father knew her an equal length 

 of time before him, and his grandfather knew her for sixty 

 years of his own time ; and she preceded his days : these 

 three gentlemen were all keen deer stalkers. Many of the 

 Lochaber and Brae Kannoch men knew her also ; she was 

 purely white, without spot or blemish, was never seen 

 alone, and tradition furnishes no instance of any shot 

 having been fired at the herd with which she associated. 



A very large stag was known for 200 years in the Mona- 

 lia, a range of mountains lying between Badenoch and 

 Inverness. He was always seen alone, keeping the open 

 plains, so that he was unapproachable. He was easily 

 distinguished from all others by his immense proportions. 



About the year 1777, Angus Macdonald, after stalking 

 for five hours, got within shot of Damh-mor-a-Vonalia, as 

 he was called (that is the large stag of Mona-lia) ; he fired, 

 and saw distinctly with his glass that the ball had entered 

 his left shoulder blade. He fell to the shot, but, not being 

 severely injured, recovered, and got away. 



Macdonald soon made known that he had wounded the 

 Damh-mor, but there was some scepticism on the subject. 

 In 1807, thirty years after this occurrence, the Damh-mor 

 was shot four miles to the westward of the inn at Garvie- 

 more, at the head of Badenoch. Thus it was : 



John Macdonald (innkeeper there, and brother to Angus, 

 who wounded the deer as above), having heard that the 

 hart was seen in his country, went in quest of him ; and 

 after stalking nearly a whole day in August, got within 

 distance, and brought him down. After a minute examina- 

 tion, the ball of 1777 was found in the left shoulder, an 



* Communicated by Mr. Macgregor. 



