I was reeling blindly like a drunkard, and our Prince put an arm around my
waist. I resisted feebly, but he would have none of it; the arm of a
king's son (de jure) supported me to the boat.
We found as boatmen not only Murdoch Macleod but his older brother Young
Raasay, the only one of the family that had not been "out" with our army.
He had been kept away from the rebellion to save the family estates, but
his heart was none the less with us.
"And what folly is this, Ronald?" cried Malcolm when he saw the head of
the house on the links. "Murdoch and I are already as black as we can be,
but you were to keep clean of the Prince's affairs. It wad be a geyan ill
outcome gin we lost the estates after all. The red cock will aiblins craw
at Raasay for this."
"I wass threepin' so already, but he wass dooms thrang to come. He'll
maybe get his craig raxed (neck twisted) for his ploy," said Murdoch
composedly.
"By Heaven, Malcolm, I'll play the trimmer no longer. Raasay serves his
Prince though it cost both the estate and his head," cried the young
chieftain hotly.
"In God's name then let us get away before the militia or the sidier roy
(red soldiers) fall in with us. In the woody cleughs yonder they are thick
as blackcocks in August," cried the Major impatiently.
We pushed into the swirling waters and were presently running free,
sending the spurling spray flying on both sides of the boat. The wind came
on to blow pretty hard and the leaky boat began to fill, so that we were
hard put to it to keep from sinking. The three brothers were quite used to
making the trip in foul weather, but on the Prince's account were now much
distressed. To show his contempt for danger, the royal wanderer sang a
lively Erse song. The Macleods landed us at Glam, and led the way to a
wretched hovel recently erected by some shepherds. Here we dined on
broiled kid, butter, cream, and oaten bread.
I slept round the clock, and awoke once more a sound man to see the Prince
roasting the heart of the kid on an iron spit. Throughout the day we
played with a greasy pack of cards to pass the time. About sundown Creagh
joined us, Macdonald having stayed on Skye to keep watch on any suspicious
activity of the clan militia or the dragoons. Raasay's clansmen,
ostensibly engaged in fishing, dotted the shore of the little island to
give warning of the approach of any boats. To make our leader's safety
more certain, the two proscribed brothers took turns with Creagh and me in
doing sentinel duty at the end of the path leading to the sheep hut.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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