FREEBOOTERS' LIFE. 201 



o'ertake ye ; ye shall surely perish on the waste ; the raven 

 shall croak your dirge ; and your banes shall be pickit by 

 the eagle." 



Awed, superstitious, and depressed as they were by 

 fatigue, the poachers were not backward in giving the 

 promise, though it is not very probable that they ever per- 

 formed it. They passed the night in deep sleep, and it was 

 late before they rose from their beds of heather, when they 

 asserted that their hostess had vanished. 



The snow storm having ceased, they found their way into 

 the track which led to Blair, and got into the strath of the 

 Tay. This is supposed to have been the last time that the 

 witch of Ben-y-gloe held converse with mortal man ; but 

 those who were less given to superstition believed that the 

 woman had been expecting her own friends, who were 

 probably also poachers detained by the storm, and that 

 she had made use of the above artifices in order to obtain 

 venison. 



Chisholm's Cave, in Carn-Vaduc, in the Ben Klibreck 

 forest, in Sutherland, derives its name from a freebooter, 

 who passed his life in caverns, poaching and living upon 

 pillage. His early history cannot be traced satisfactorily ; 

 but it is probable that he became a recluse in consequence 

 of having committed some atrocious crime ; and that he 



O J , 



selected the retired cave at the back of Klibreck, from his 

 love of a forest life. He was not a native of Sutherland, 

 nor had he, whilst there, been guilty of any heinous crime ; 

 but he scrupled not to make frequent nocturnal visits to the 

 inhabited parts of Strathnaver, and, on such occasions, to 

 carry off to his caverns, corn, and such other necessaries, as 

 were not to be procured around his desolate abode. 



The large cave, which bears his name, is an extensive 

 winding cavity, or rather a succession of open spaces, or 

 holes of unusual size, such as Brobdignag rabbits might be 

 supposed to haunt. In this dismal labyrinth, Chisholm 

 lived many years ; it is said he kept two cows underground, 

 and left venison in lieu of the hay and grain which he 

 plundered in the cultivated strath. 



This sort of bartering gave little offence ; nay, some were 

 gratified by it, for Chisholm was dreaded as a lawless man, 

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