188 LAST EXECUTION AT BLAIR. 



Blair, was once in Braemar, when the company he was 

 with began to banter the Atholl men for lack of courage. 

 Up he started on his legs, and striking the table with his 

 clenched knuckles, exclaimed in the stern spirit of a 

 clansman, "Remember, lads, who have the Cuirn Marnich." 

 This effectually silenced the banterers. 



Turning from such lawless proceedings I will now give 

 an account of the last public judicial execution that took 

 place at Blair. 



About the beginning of the sixteenth century, the 

 Earl of Atholl had two foresters named Stewart and 

 Macintosh : the former resided at Auchgoul, and the 

 latter at Dalnachie ; both in Glen Tilt. Macintosh had 

 also a bothy at Coirrerennich on Ben-y-gloe, where he 

 occasionally slept. 



One day after shooting together, they resolved to sleep 

 at this bothy ; they had only a gilly or servant with them 

 belonging to Macintosh; the two foresters slept in one 

 bed, and the gilly in another. Whilst Macintosh slept, 

 Stewart stabbed him with his skiandubh ; and going to 

 the gilly's bed, stabbed him also, and put him on Macintosh, 

 that it might be supposed one had killed the other. He 

 left them both for dead, and made the best of his way 

 home. 



Soon after his departure the gilly began to recover a 

 little from the wound he had received, and contrived to 

 crawl on his hands and knees to Dalnachie, which he 

 reached next morning, and gave information of the mur- 

 der of his master. When Stewart heard that the gilly 

 had escaped with life, and that the murder was discovered, 

 he fled to Lord Reay's country in Sutherland, which had 



