BRAN AND PHORP. 243 



Such would Fingal, the chief of heroes, select from amongst 

 the young of his hunting dogs. 



Phorp was black in colour, and his points are thus 

 described : 



' ' Two yellow feet, such as Bran had j 



Two black eyes, 



And a white breast ; 



A back narrow and fair, 



As required for hunting ; 



And two erect ears of a dark brown red." 



Towards the close of the day, after some severe runs, 

 which, however, still left the comparative merits of the two 

 dogs a subject of hot dispute. Bran arid Phorp were brought 

 front to front to prove their courage ; and they were no 

 sooner untied, than they sprang at each other, and fought 

 desperately. Phorp seemed about to overcome Bran, when 

 his master, the Sutherland chief, unwilling that either of 

 them should be killed, called out " Let each of us take 

 away his dog." Fingal objected to this ; whereupon the 

 Sutherland chief said, with a taunt, that "it was now 

 evident that the Fingalians did not possess a dog that could 

 match with Phorp." 



Angered and mortified, Fingal immediately extended 

 " his venomous paw," as it was called (for the tradition 

 represents him as possessing supernatural power), and with 

 one hand he seized Phorp by the neck, and with the other, 

 which was a charmed and destructive one, he tore out the 

 brave animal's heart. 



This adventure occurred at a place near the march, 

 between the parishes of Clyne and Kildonan, still called 

 Leck-na-con, the Stone of the Dogs, there having been 

 placed a large stone on the spot where they fought. The 

 ground over which Fingal and the Sutherland chief hunted 

 that day is called Dirrie-leck-con. Bran suffered so severely 

 in the fight, that he died in Glen Loth before leaving the 

 forest, and was buried there. A huge cairn was heaped 

 over him, which still remains, and is known by the name 

 of Cairn -Bran.* 



* Mr. Grant of Corrymony, in his work on the Gael, relates a tradition 

 somewhat similar to the above, and which may have been drawn from the 

 same sources ; but it differs from it in stating that Bran was the victor, 

 and in the omission of his death. 



