STORY OF POLSON ,9 



rushing homeward, attracted by the cries of the 

 cubs. As it dashed past him into the entrance 

 of the cave, Poison luckily succeeded in seizing 

 it by the tail and holding it fast, thus darkening 

 the aperture, on which one of the sons asked 

 what was keeping out the light. * If the tail 

 breaks you will soon know that,' said the father, 

 who succeeded, however, in killing the animal 

 with repeated stabs of his dirk. So Scrope in 

 Days of Deer -stalking. The name Poison is 

 evidently an English form of ' MacPhail.' 



A very persistent popular tradition gives as 

 the date of the absolute last of the many ' last 

 wolves ' the year 1 743. The hero of the tale 

 was one MacQueen of Poll-a'-Chrocain, and 

 the locality, the Findhorn country near the 

 Monadhliath range, then a wild and desolate 

 district. The story is that a message was 

 brought to MacQueen, a man of gigantic stature 

 and noted for his courage and prowess as a 

 hunter, that a ' large black beast ' had killed 

 two children, and requiring him to join his 

 chief, the Macintosh of that day, with his dogs 

 for a great hunt on the following day. In the 

 morning all were at the gathering place, except 

 MacQueen, whose non-appearance greatly irri- 

 tated the Chief; and when at last MacQueen 

 made his appearance he was received with 



