2 THE AUTHOR'S ANCESTORS. Introd. 



in the ' Tales of a Grandfather ' and other works. As a boy I 

 remember listening to him with delight, for his memory was 

 stored with a never-ending stock of stories, many of which were 

 wonderfully like those I have since heard while sitting by the 

 African evening fires. Our grandmother, too, used to sing Gaelic 

 songs, some of which, as she believed, had been composed by 

 captive islanders languishing Ixypelessly among the Turks. 



Grandfather could give particulars of the lives of his an- 

 cestors for six generations of the family before him ; and the 

 only point of the tradition I feel proud of is tins. One of these 

 poor hardy islanders was renowned in the district for great 

 wisdom and prudence ; and it is related that, when he was on his 

 deathbed, he called all his children around him and said, " Now, 

 in my lifetime, I have searched most carefully through all the 

 traditions I could find of our family, and I never could discover 

 that there was a dishonest man among our forefathers. If there- 

 fore any of you or any of your children should take to dishonest 

 ways, it will not be because it runs in our blood ; it does not 

 belong to you. I leave this precept with you : Be honest." If 

 therefore in the following pages I fall into any errors, I hope they 

 will be dealt with as honest mistakes, and not as indicating that 

 I have forgotten our ancient motto. Tins event took place at a 

 time when the Highlanders, according to Macaulay, were much 

 like the Cape Caffres, and any one, it was said, could escape 

 punishment for cattle-stealing by presenting a share of the plunder 

 to his chieftain. Our ancestors were Roman Catholics ; they were 

 made Protestants by the laird coming round with a man having 

 a yellow staff, which would seem to have attracted more attention 

 than his teaching, for the new religion went long afterwards, 

 perhaps it does so still, by the name of " the religion of the 

 yellow stick.'' 



Finding his farm in Ulva insufficient to support a numerous 

 family, my grandfather removed to Blantyre Works, a large 

 cotton manufactory on the beautiful Clyde, above Glasgow ; and 

 his sons, having had the best education the Hebrides afforded, 

 were gladly received as clerks by the proprietors, Monteith and 

 Co. He himself, higlily esteemed for his unflinclnng honesty, 

 was employed in the conveyance of large sums of money 

 from Glasgow to the works, and in old age was^a^cording to the 



i waSjapc 



