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CHAP.XVI If.Wl)2.

Glencoe.

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4 HISTOEY OP ENGLAND.

A grave question therefore arose, whether the money en-- trusted to Breadalhane should be paid directly to the discon-tented chiefs, or should be employed to satisfy the claims whichArgyle had upon them. The shrewdness of Lochiel and the ar-rogant pretensions of Glengarry contributed to protract the dis-cussions. But no Celtic potentate was so impracticable asMacdonald of Glencoe, known among the mountains by thehereditary appellation of Mac Ian.*

Mac Ian dwelt in the mouth of a ravine situated not far fromthe southern shore of Lochleven, an arm of the sea whichdeeply indents the western coast of Scotland, and separatesArgyleshire from Invernessshire. Near his house were two orthree small hamlets inhabited by his tribe. The whole popu-lation which he governed tvas not supposed to exceed twohundred souls. In the neighbourhood of the little cluster ofvillages was some copsew r ood and some pasture land: but alittle further up the defile no sign of population or of fruitful-ness was to be seen. In the Gaelic tongue Glencoe signifiesthe Glen of "Weeping; and in truth that pass is the most drearyand melancholy of all the Scottish passes, the very Valley ofthe Shadow of Death. Mists and storms brood over it throughthe greater part of the finest summer; and even on those raredays when the sun is bright, and when there is no cloud in thesky, the impression made by the landscape is sad and awful.The path lies along a stream which issues from the most sullenand gloomy of mountain pools. Huge precipices of nakedstone frown on both sides. Even in July the streaks of snowmay often be discerned in the rifts near the summits. Alldown the sides of the crags heaps of ruin mark the headlongpaths of the torrents. Mile after mile the traveller looks invain for the smoke of one hut, for one human form wrapped in

* The Master of Stair to Hamilton, Ang. 41- 1691; Hill to Melville,June 26. 1691; The Master of Stair to Breadalhane, Aug. 24. 1691.