ECHOES OF THE CHASE 51 



they laid some venison in the bottom, and a stratum 

 of the stones above it ; and thus they did alternately 

 till the pit was full. The whole was covered with 

 heath to confine the steam. Whether this is probable 

 I cannot say ; but some pits are shewn, which the 

 vulgar say, were used in that manner. 7 My relative 

 Dr. John Macpherson of Sleat, in his ' Critical 

 Dissertations on the Ancient Caledonians,' endorses 

 with his own authority the note just quoted from 

 Ossian as perfectly correct. He was considered a 

 skilled Celtic antiquary. He also refers in the 

 following words to the banquets of the Hebridean 

 chiefs : ' The whole tribe filled the Chieftain's hall. 

 The trunks of trees covered with moss were laid in 

 the order of a table from one end of the hall to the 

 other. Whole deer and beeves were roasted and laid 

 before them on rough boards or hurdles of rods wove 

 together. Their pipers played while they sat at table, 

 and silence was observed by all.' He says, too, that 

 in the reign of Robert Bruce, a party of Scots invaded 

 the North-east of England, performing a feat of 

 extraordinary prowess, after which the Scots withdrew 

 to their own country. ' Some of the English, either 

 to gratify curiosity, or in expectation of booty, took 

 a view of the Scottish camp, and found there three 

 hundred bags made of raw deer-skins, with the hair 



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