Skye, Island of (Scotland) -- Description and travel
and second cousins about them; and so Captain Macleod lived at the
mouth of the glen, and Major Macleod at the top of it, and Colonel
Macleod over the hill yonder. If the last trumpet had been blown at
the end of the French war, no one but a Macleod would have risen out
of the churchyard at Dunvegan. If you want to see a chief
now-a-days, you must go to London for him. Ay, sir, Dun Kenneth's
prophecy has come to pass--'In the days of Norman, son of the third
Norman, there will be a noise in the doors of the people, and wailing
in the house of the widow; and Macleod will not have so many
gentlemen of his name as will row a five-oared boat around the
Maidens!' The prophecy has come to pass, and the Tables are no
longer Macleod's--at least one of them is not."
After wandering about Orbost we resumed our seats in the dog-cart,
and drove to Dunvegan Castle.
As we drew near Dunvegan we came down on one of those sinuous
sea-lochs which--hardly broader than a river--flow far inland, and
carry mysteriousness of sight and sound, the gliding sail, the
sea-bird beating high against the wind, to the door of the shepherd,
who is half a sailor among his bleating flocks. Across the sea, and
almost within hail of your voice, a farm and outhouses looked
embattled against the sky. Along the shore, as we drove, were boats
and nets, and here and there little clumps and knots of houses.
People were moving about on the roads intent on business. We passed
a church, a merchant's store, a post-office; we were plainly
approaching some village of importance; and on the right hand the
chestnuts, larches, and ashes which filled every hollow, and covered
every rolling slope, gave sufficient indication that we were
approaching the castle.
[Sidenote: The garden at Dunvegan.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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