When Alastair became ground-officer and bard to Sir Hector, he took up his abode at Inverkerry near Flowerdale. In his later years he removed to Strath, and Sir Hector allowed him to hold his land there rent free for the rest of his days. He survived his beloved patron seventeen years; he died in 1843, at the age of seventy-six, and was buried in his family grave in the Gairloch churchyard. Alastair was of middle height, and had, as his Gaelic _soubriquet_ implies, yellow hair; he was a slender man, and never strong at his best. In his later years he suffered from bad health, and was very weakly long before his death. His character is described as peculiarly attractive; he was of a gentle kindly disposition, highly esteemed by all who knew him of whatever rank, and children loved him as well as their seniors. He had a great fund of humour, combined with a deep sense of the pathetic, and was "splendid company." William Ross, "the Gairloch bard," and he were intimate friends. As Alastair was wading the Achtercairn river one day, on his way to a sister's wedding, he met William Ross, and humorous verses were hurled from one to the other across the stream in reference to Alastair's coat, which was a "Cota gearr" of homespun cloth slightly dipped in indigo, the colour being between a pale blue and a dirty white. Alastair was also on good terms with Alexander Grant, the great bard of Slaggan. Alastair was married, and left five sons, viz., Roderick (grandfather of Alexander Mackenzie the historian of the Mackenzies, and editor of the _Celtic Magazine_), Alastair Buidhe, Iain Buidhe, and Donald Buidhe (who was a cripple and became a tailor). Roderick, a son of Evander Buidhe, is now shepherd at Tollie, and has supplied much of the information here given about his grandfather. Another son of Evander Buidhe was in a shop at Inverness, where he died; he made a capital song to his grandfather's old house at Strath, entitled in Gaelic "Tigh mo Sheanair." So the poetic afflatus of the old bard has not altogether disappeared in his descendants. It is remarkable that two such bright stars should have illuminated the poetic firmament at the same time in Gairloch as William Ross and Alexander Campbell. It is difficult for a southerner to appreciate the fame of these two Gairloch poets, but it may be said almost to correspond with that of Southey and Wordsworth. The poetry of William Ross appeals most strongly to the cultured mind, whilst Alastair's is more in tune with the simpler instincts and impulsive heartiness of a rural life. As we should expect, the poems of Alastair Buidhe are in the present day preferred in Gairloch to the compositions of his friend. No complete collection has been published of the poems of Alastair Buidhe, though several pieces have appeared in the _Celtic Magazine_. It is feared that many of the poems, which only live in the memories of the people, may soon be lost. Chapter XXI. ALEXANDER GRANT, THE GREAT BARD OF SLAGGAN.