CLUNY MACPHERSON. 109 



of him, he started off at full speed, and went an end for 

 about two miles ; he then stood for a few minutes, as if 

 considering whether he had any real cause for alarm, and 

 at length deliberately walked back to the very spot from 

 which he first started, and was shot dead by Cluny. 

 This circumstance was considered a good omen, and the 

 prosperous interpretation was not falsified by future 

 events. 



" As for the forest of Glenmore, I would advise you to 

 keep clear of it, unless, like the northern champions of old, 

 you delight in encounters with military spectres ; for it is 

 said to be haunted by a fairy knight or spirit called Lhuiu- 

 deargh, in the array of an ancient warrior, having a bloody 

 hand, from which he takes his name. He challenges those 

 he meets to do battle with him; and as lately as 1669 he 

 fought with three brothers, one after another, who imme- 

 diately died thereafter.* 



" I must now tell you of an adventure that happened to 

 Mr. Mucpherson of Braekaely, when he had the charge of 

 the forest of Benalder. He sallied forth one morning, as 

 he was wont, in quest of venison, accompanied by his 

 servant. In the course of their travel they found a wolf- 

 den (a wolf being at that time by no means a rarity in 

 the forest). Macpherson asked his servant whether he 

 would prefer going into the den to destroy the cubs, or re- 

 main outside and guard against the approach of the old ones. 

 The servant, preferring what appeared to be an uncertain to 

 a certain danger, said he would remain without ; but here 

 Sandy had miscalculated, for, to his great dismay, the dam 

 came raging to the mouth of the cave ; which, no sooner did 

 * Account of Strathspey, apud Macfarlane's MSS. 



