LOCH AWE 53 



rant of the legend. In 1828 he complains that he 

 has been annoyed by a lady, because he had 

 printed ' in the " Review " ' a ravvhead and bloody- 

 bones story of her father, Major Macpherson, who 

 was lost in a snowstorm. This Major Macpherson 

 was clearly the Black Officer. Mr. Douglas, the 

 publisher of Scott's diary, discovered that the 

 ' Review ' mentioned vaguely by Scott was the 

 ' Foreign Quarterly,' No. I, July, 1827. In an 

 essay on Hoffmann's novels, Sir Walter introduced 

 the tale as told to him in a letter from a nobleman 

 some time deceased, not more distinguished for his 

 love of science than his attachment to literature in 

 all its branches. 



The tale is too long to be given completely. 

 Briefly, a Captain M., on St. Valentine's day, 1799, 

 had been deer-shooting (at an odd time of the 



year) in the hills west of D . He did not 



return, a terrible snowstorm set in, and finally he 

 and his friends were found dead in a bothy, which 

 the tempest had literally destroyed. Large stones 

 from the walls were found lying at distances of a 

 hundred yards ; the wooden uprights were twisted 



