302 LORD LOVAT'S RAID. 



a clansman, who had acted a conspicuous part in the whole 

 business, asked the lord if he did not swear, before going 

 out, that he would leave neither horse, cow, sheep or 

 cattle, or even cocks and hens, in the Atholl country. 

 ( Ye ha' done brawly,' said he, f and muckle gear ha' we 

 gotten ; but yon cock that I heard crowing in the toon 

 below us seems to say that the aith is no that completely 

 kept.' 



" Lord Lovat demanded if it were a dunghill cock that 

 he heard, or a muir-fowl ; and upon hearing that it was 

 the former, he replied, ' This must not be ; it is against 

 the aith I made ere I set out : get thee doon to the toon, 

 Donald, with a party, and put the beastie to death.' 



" Donald did as he was commanded ; but upon his 

 arrival, the Atholl men, having had time to assemble, 

 attacked his party, and all were soon slaughtered, except 

 Donald Fraser himself, who was a powerful man, and 

 fought lustily. He was, however, shortly overpowered 

 by numbers ; and they proceeded to bind his hands behind 

 his back, that they might make use of him as a guide to 

 conduct them to the spot where the Lord of Lovat was 

 awaiting the return of his men. 



" Donald, however, by a sudden and violent exertion, 

 contrived to extricate himself from their clutches, and to 

 get a start over the moor ; but being encumbered with the 

 cords, which were still about him, was almost instantly 

 overtaken and slain. 



" A party of the Atholl men then clad themselves in 

 the tartans of the men they had killed ; and easily making 

 out the track (for the day was now dawning), followed 

 their invaders in a right line, whilst their chief force was 



