a quarter of a million, so we are practically much more dependent on the state of trade, and on our fishings, and on the demand for labour in the South, than we are on the land. I commenced compiling the statistics I now give, with the intention that they should appear in the pages of the Celtic Magazine, to which periodical I had contributed other papers on the crofter question, but as they have become so bulky, I now print them in pamphlet form, and as the public attention is at present directed to the crofter legislation now under the consideration of Parliament, I hope they may be found to be of some interest as showing the position of affairs, past and present, regarding this question in the Island of Skye. Skaebost, Isle of Skye, L. MACDONALD. THE CAMERONS OF RANNOCH. (Continued.) DONALD CAMERON of Blarachaorin was, as already stated, son of Duncan Cameron of Letterfinlay, a cadet of the House of Lochiel, commonly styled Doncha vic Mhartainn. The traditions of the oldest residents in Rannoch, written down towards the end of last century by the late Lieut. Alexander Macgregor of Tempar, are to the effect that one of the Lochiels of the day married the heiress of Letterfinlay, and, afterwards, bestowed the estate on a younger son whom he had named Martin after his mother, and from whom the Macmartin Camerons are descended. Be that as it may, Cameron of Blarachaorin was styled in the vernacular by his patronymic of Mhic-'ic-Mhartainn na Leitirach, and his descendants in Rannoch are known, to the present day, as the Cloinn-'ic-Mhartainn. Blarachaorin's marriage with Rachel Macgregor proved to be a happy one, and a warm friendship soon sprung up between him and his father-in-law, who not only condoned the abduction of his daughter, but allowed her a handsome marriage portion. This friendship, so singular in origin, cemented by frequent intermarriages, subsisted to the latest times between the Camerons of Camuserochd, where Blarachaorin's descendants were settled for several generations, and the Macgregors of Dunan and Ardlarich. Indeed, the present account of the Camuserochd family has been largely compiled from the genealogical researches of the grandson of the last of the Macgregors of Ardlarich, the late Captain John Macgregor of the 24th Regiment, whose MSS. are in the possession of his nephew, Robert Cameron, of Prospect Hill, Gourock. Cameron of Blarachaorin had, by his wife, a son John, the immediate ancestor of the Camerons of Camuserochd, and a daughter, who married her cousin, Ianduy Oig of Dunan. I. John Cameron, commonly called John Ban Abrach, and sometimes Mac-'ic-Mhartainn na Leitirach, settled at Camuserochd about the year 1677, and was the first of the name who owned lands in Rannoch. His uncle, Patrick Macgregor of Dunan, being very old, and feeling that his end was near, sent for John Ban, and, by an offer of the lands of Camuserochd, obtained from him a promise to marry his young widow (as to whose future Patrick was very solicitous) after his demise. Patrick had been thrice married, his third wife being a daughter of John Macgregor of Ardlarich, whose name is mentioned in the decree against the tenants of Slismine, dated 24th May, 1695. By the widow of Patrick, John Ban had three sons, Donald Roy, who succeeded him, Duncan, and John, who, along with their kinsman, Duncan Mac landuy Oig, took part in the rising of the clans in 1715. II. Donald Cameron, commonly called Donald Roy vic Mhartainn, when quite a boy, succeeded his father, who died circa 1690. He married Miss Kennedy, daughter of Kennedy of Lionachan in Lochaber, by whom he had a numerous family of sons and daughters. His eldest son, Alister, joined in the rebellion of 1745 under Major Menzies of Shian and Robert Macgregor of Ardlarich, and was killed at the Battle of Culloden. A younger brother, also in the army of Prince Charles, is supposed to have been cut off in the retreat from Derby. Donald was succeeded in Camuserochd by his second son, Ewen. III. Ewen Cameron married Miss Robertson, daughter of Robertson of Drumachaon in Rannoch. He was a tall, powerful man, of whose feats of strength several anecdotes are recorded. He is said to have been endowed with the second sight,* and many weird tales are related of his visions, particularly referring to the disastrous events of the Rebellion, in which two of his brothers, whom he had tried to dissuade from joining the army of the Pretender, had met the fate that awaited so many of their fellow-clansmen in that romantic but ill-starred enterprise. The following anecdote is told of Ewen : The eldest of his boys was named after Robertson of Drumachaon, his father-in-law, the second after Ewen's own father. While yet little fellows, they one day quarrelled and fought. The youngest knocked down his elder brother and was on top of him, whereupon the father sung out this extempore verse : Tha an seol so mur bu choir dha, 'San doigh so mur bu dual dith, † Gnasach Bein-a-brichda Air muin slichd ‡Bein-a-chuallach. Ewen's oldest boy having died young, he was succeeded by the second son, Donald. IV. Donald Cameron was born in Camuserochd in 1735, and married, in 1758, Janet Macgregor, of the family of Dunan, by whom he had several sons and daughters. Like his father, Donald was endowed with the second sight, and many stories are told of him in this connection by his grandson, Robert, now living, who himself speaks of the second sight with the greatest reverence, and would almost rank as a blasphemer anyone who should speak of it disrespectfully. He writes: "The gift of the second sight, though sneered at and discredited by pseudo-philosophers of the present day, was not at all A very unhappy rendering of An da Shealladh, which means rather the double sight, a vision, that is, at once of the present and the future. Deuteroscopia is an ignorant and barbarous term for second sight. The native inhabitants of Ben-a-brichda, near Ben Nevis. A hill north of Mount Alexander, and then the property of the Robertsons of Drumachaon, a district on the north side of the River Tummel. a rare thing among the inhabitants of Rannoch in my youth. There must be something in it when the sceptic Dr. Johnson was converted into the belief of it during his tour in the Western Islands. "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, On one occasion Donald went to see a sick neighbour who was then on his death-bed. He found in the house of the bedridden man a number of other friends and acquaintances, all of whom Donald saluted, except one whom he looked at but did not further notice. When the company, including this person, left the room, the people of the house expressed to Donald their surprise at his strange conduct in ignoring the presence of one of his nearest neighbours. "Good heaven," replied Donald, "was it that man? I did not recognise him, for his whole person and face were enveloped in a shroud." Next day the startling news came of the person's death. He had passed away even before the sick man whose last moments he had come to witness on the previous night! So common were apparitions of this nature in the Highlands, that the number of one's days on earth could be foretold with almost scientific precision by those who had the gift of the second sight. In a company of people one might be seen with a shroud covering his legs, or perhaps a small portion of his body besides, indicating that death was yet a long way off. But if the shroud reached high up, so as to cover the face or the entire person, it was a sure sign that the grave was about to close over him for ever. Besides daughters, Donald had five sons, Ewen, the eldest, who succeeded him; Angus and John, who lived and died in Rannoch; Donald and Duncan, who emigrated to Nova Scotia and leave descendants there. V. Ewen Cameron, called sometimes Ewen Du an Daraich (Black Ewen of the Oak), factor to Sir Neil Menzies, Bart. He was born at Camuserochd in 1759 and died there in 1844, ætat 85. He married, in 1805, Rachel, daughter of Macgregor of Lerigan, and grand-daughter of Alister Mac-Gillespa,* the last of the ancient family of Macgregors of Ardlarich.† Rachel lived till the year 1871, and was 94 years old at her death. Her brother, the late Captain John Macgregor of the 24th Foot, has left a MS. history of the Macgregors and Camerons of Rannoch, embodying the result of much careful research. Two of Ewen's sons are still alive; (1), Robert, the eldest of the family; (2), Angus, born 1819, residing at St. George's, Gloucester. He married Jessie, daughter of the late Dr. Johnstone of Edinburgh, with issue-three sons and three daughters. VI. Robert Cameron, Prospect Hill, Gourock, the present representative of the family, was born in Rannoch in 1809. He married, in 1840, Jessie, daughter of the late Lieutenant John Macdonald of the East India Company's service, with issue— (1.) John, M.D., Edinburgh, J.P. for Argyleshire. (2.) Evan, M.D., died 1871. (3.) Ann, married with issue. (4.) Christina. (5.) Duncan, M.A., Indian Civil Service, married, in 1885, Jessie-Sophia, daughter of the late Captain Russell Thomas Birch, of the 20th Foot, and grand-daughter of Sir William Russell, Bart. of Charlton Park, Gloucester. (6.) Robert William Dickenson, M.D., Edinburgh. CAMERONS OF CAMGHURAN. Besides the Cloinn-'ic-Mhartainn, there is in Rannoch another sept of Camerons on the south side of the loch at Camghuran, who are known as the Cloinn-Ian-Cheir and the Cloinn-IanBhiorraich. Their origin is involved in obscurity, but a small * Captain Macgregor states that his grandfather, this Alexander Macgregor of Ardlarich, was the heir of the Macgregors of Glenstrae, and, as such, claimed the title of Chief of the Clan Gregor. Alexander died in 1788 at the age of 88. His only son died young, and with him the male line became extinct. †The families of Ardlarich, Dunan, and Lerigan were offshoots of the House of Roro, in Glenlyon, |