Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) THE SCOTTISH JOURNAL OF _Topography, Antiquities, Traditions,_ &c. &c. ---------------------------------------------------------------- No. 22. Edinburgh, Saturday, January 29, 1848. Price 1½d. ---------------------------- SOME PARTICULARS REGARDING THE FAMILY OF INVERNAHYLE. COPIED FROM A MANUSCRIPT IN THE POSSESSION OF DR THOMSON, LATE OF APPIN, BY JOSEPH TRAIN. ALEXANDER, the first Invernahyle, was son to Allan Stewart, third Laird of Appin. He married Margaret Macdonald, daughter of Donald Macdonald of Moidart, commonly called _Donul an Lochan_.[1] He had only one child, Donald, who succeeded him. Alexander, it would appear, lived in Island Stalker. He rose early on a summer morning, and stepped over to the _Nan Gall_,[2] which lies contiguous. He had in his hand a Lochaber axe, which at that period was frequently used instead of the sword. He reclined upon a verdant spot of the isle, with his Lochaber axe laid carelessly by him. A deadly feud existed at that time between his family and that of Dunstaffnage. A brother of Dunstaffnage, called _Cailen Uaine_,[3] arrived at the island with his barge, and a number of men to assist him in executing his bloody purpose. He landed unperceived by Alexander. Upon being observed, he assumed the mask of friendship, and was about to salute him; but, seeing Alexander defenceless, he cast his eye on the axe, which still lay upon the ground, and eager to be possessed of that which, if in the hands of the other, might make him pay dear for his expedition, he hastily grasped it, expressing himself thus—“Sma an tua so Alasdair na on bioda leor sauich innte.”[4] Alexander quickly replied—“Bheil duil agad nach eil sin innte,”[5] and also laid hold of the axe, being fully sensible of the spirit of Colin’s remark. During the struggle, Colin’s men surrounded Alexander, and basely murdered him. Donald, his infant son, was suckled by Morag, a woman from Moidart, and wife to _Rab a Pheti_, the smith of that district. Colin, foreseeing that the black deed he had committed might not pass unrevenged, was very anxious to destroy the child. In this, however, he was disappointed by the prudence and activity of the faithful nurse, who, with a strength of attachment truly valuable, understanding what had happened, regardless of her own safety, fled away with the child to her own country. Having informed her husband of the circumstances, they agreed to bring up the child as if he was their own, and to keep the secret of his parentage concealed from the world, even from himself, till a proper time arrived for disclosing it.