A MAGAZINE FOR HIGHLANDERS. No. 12. VOL. VIII.] Edited by JOHN MACKAY, Glasgow. LACHLAN MACLEAN, SEPTEMBER, 1900. CHIEF, CAPE TOWN HIGHLAND SOCIETY. HE subject of our sketch this month is a Highlander whose name has come very prominently into public notice during the past year in connection with South African affairs, his position as Agent for Sir Donald Currie's "Castle" Line of Steamers at Cape Town being one of great responsibility. His fellow-countrymen in other parts will doubtless be glad to learn some particulars of the career of this distinguished Highlander. Mr. Maclean, fourth son of the late Lachlan Maclean of Greenhill, Tiree, was born at Crosh, Tiree, 28th January, 1852. His mother was also of the clan name. He was educated at the local schools and by private tutors. In April 1868, he came to Glasgow and entered the office of Sir Donald Currie; was transferred to the Leith office in 1871, and to the London in 1874. Four years later he was appointed Agent in Cape Town, South Africa, for the celebrated "Castle" Line. During his residence in Leith he was a member of the First Midlothian Rifle Volunteers, and twelve years ago he took an active part in raising the Cape Town Highlanders, a fine body of kilted clansmen the command of which was offered to him, but which he declined on account of want of sufficient leisure to do justice to the position. A member of the Gaelic Society of London, he took an active part in forming a kindred institution in South Africa-the Cape Caledonian Society, of which he is a life member. Last year. the Cape Highland Society was formed under the most auspicious circumstances, and the subject of our sketch was elected first chief. It is probably the first purely Highland Society formed in the Southern Hemisphere. The Gaels of Cape Town gave Lord Lovat's Scouts an enthusiastic reception and entertainment, and provided comforts for them and the Highland Brigade. I need hardly add that Mr. Maclean is also a life member of the Clan Maclean Society, and takes a deep interest in all its undertakings. Although closely occupied with business Mr. Maclean finds time to devote some attention to [Price Threepence. public affairs, and was Mayor of Claremont (in which district Kenilworth is included) in 1898, and is still a member of the municipality. He was chairman of the Claremont School Board last year, and also of the Finance Committee of the Wynberg Hospital. It is interesting to mention that Mr. Maclean is fond of all branches of sport-what true Highlander is not?-especially shooting and fishing. The hall of his residence at Kenilworth is decorated with many fine trophies of big game, the result of a shooting excursion on the East Coast, near the Zambesi, in the Beira district. The Cape Game Protection Association founded in 1889, which has done excellent work, owes its inception to him, and he still acts as honorary secretary and treasurer, and is also a member of the Marine Fisheries' Committee a semi-government body dealing with marine fisheries. This Gael was also the first to introduce trout into South African rivers, which are now well stocked and will be open for fishing in a year or two. Mr. Maclean is married to Margaret, daughter of the late John Cumming Crawford of Edinburgh, and has one child, "Sheila," born 29th May, 1893. His residences are "Greenhill," Kenilworth, a beautiful suburb seven miles from Cape Town; and "Duart," Seaforth, Simonstown-names which have a Highland significance the island of his birth, and the ancient seat in Mull of the chiefs of his clan. T TO SOMEBODY. HY face to see, thy smile to greet, As we two tread the winding path, COINNEACH DUBн. CLACH-AN-T-SOLUIS: THE STONE OF LIGHT. HE harvest, up amongst the hills at Muilzie, had come to an end, and the lads were as usual preparing for a dance. The sounds of Domhnull Piobair's pipes might be heard evening after evening floating over the loch as he exercised his fingers and lungs for the coming event. The lassies were all in a flutter about ribbons and partners, and the lads vied with each other as to who should have the good looking girls and the best dancers. But none of the young stalwarts thought of plain Mairi Ciar. It was beauty they wanted, not worth. On the eve of the dance Mairi went to the end of the loch to bring the cows home. The last rays of the setting sun made a shining way from the waters at her feet to the mysterious fields of purple and gold that stretched away beyond and above the gloomy mountains. She sat on a mossy stone at the end of that path of glory to think of the lucky girls and handsome lads who were to be at the dance, to which no one had invited her; and covered her face with her hands. She did not remain long in that position when this vision of sweetness and softness unearthly spoke into her ears, and this was what it said:: Greas dachaidh, greas dachaidh, Oir cosinnidh maitheas Air maise gnùis buaidh ; 'Us boisgidh na d' bhroilleach, Home hasten, home hasten, For a time she did not take her hands from her eyes, for she was afraid. When at length she ventured to do so the sun had set, the glory of loch and sky had vanished, and the curtains of night were falling over the surrounding hills. She put her hand to her palpatating heart, and lo! there was something in the folds of the plaid over it. It was a stone, clear as crystal, encircled with a triple band of gold. She rose and hastened home with the cows, and as she drew near her mother's cot saw Archie Crùbach, the tailor, limping about the door. He had come to invite her to the dance. Although she knew that none of the other girls would have him for a partner, she was glad he had come for her. She determined to tell no one the story of the mysterious stone, went about her evening work as usual, and was ready as the hour of the dance drew near to accompany the lame tailor. The dance was a grand affair for Muilzie, for the tacksmen (the grandees of the glen) and their wives were there. The lads and lassies were, of course, in their best attire. There were not many silk dresses, but no lack of comely forms. When the dance began, little agile figures stepped and reeled with all the unstudied grace of the days when the world was young; and the bright tartans of the Frasers and Chisholms mingled with the darker one of the Mackenzies. There was a good-humoured clapping of hands as the tailor limped in with Mairi Ciar. Isabel Alainn, the beauty of the township, nudged her partner, Donald Roy, when the twain entered as if they were subjects for sport. But when the tailor and Mairi joined in the next dance there were whispers of surprise on all hands on the manner in which they acquitted themselves. Mairi's stooped little form straightened until she seemed three inches taller than when she entered. She danced with ease and grace wonderful to behold, and her face was lit up with an undefinable beauty, the effect of which soon began to tell upon the lads Even Donald Roy, the son of one of the tacksmen and the handsomest lad in the township, to his partner's mortification could not keep his eyes off her. The mysterious stone sparkled in her breast, but the lads took no notice of it. The girls however did, and came to the conclusion it was only an eight-sided crystal from Scoor-na-lappich encircled with a bit of brass wire. The tailor, too, seemed an altered man. The contracted sinews of his lame leg relaxed as the dance proceeded, and at length the limp in his gait wholly disappeared. His only uneasiness arose from all the lads wanting to dance with Mairi. Never before was there a dance at Muilzie of such a hearty, jovial kind. The whisky Farquhar Mor brewed for the occasion was producive of nothing but good humour. All the lads seemed under a spell of unalloyed happiness; and the girls seemed equally delighted, making no slighting remarks upon one another, as girls sometimes do. There was, however, one exception; the fiend of jealousy entered into Isabel Alainn. Donald Roy's attentions to the once despised Mairi Ciar hurt her as nothing else could, and as the two were standing together conversing about the dance, she stepped up to them and joined in the conversation; thinking her own beauty would put Mairi's new charms in the shade. The result, however, was a disappointment to her, for the light of the stone in Mairi's breast shone full in her face and disclosed the ugliness of her nature. Selfishness, vanity, and hate were imprinted upon her features in a manner that made Donald shudder, and revealed to Mairi that the powers of the stone were manifold. From that night Donald transferred his affections to Mairi; and the only satisfaction Isabel got was that when he made the matrimonial proposal he was rejected. Mairi remained true to the tailor who thought her worthy of attention when none else did, and eventually they married. The issue of the marriage was one son, and Mairi like nine-tenths of the daughters of Eve, similarly favoured, made an an idol of him. There came a day when the son not only attained to manhood, but fell in love with one of the bonniest girls in Muilzie. The mother was full of anxiety. She was prejudiced in the matter of beauty, doubting the goodness of all who possessed it; and thought too that there was no one in the township good enough for her son. She bethought her one day of the mysterious stone that, for the long happy days of her wedded life, had lain in the chest which contained the few things of value she possessed, and determined to try its power upon the girl of her son's choice. With this object she one afternoon pinned the stone in her breast and went to the loch side, the common pasture of the township, knowing that the girl would be there to milk her father's cows. They met, but the stone revealed to her no evil in the girl, indeed, it seemed to have lost all its power. On her way home she sat down on the spot where she heard the voice long years before to think the matter over. Dark threatening clouds hung over the hills; the wind with a low moan came down the corrie close by; the loch looked grey and cold, and the rushes on its margin shivered. These sights and sounds depressed her, and she put her elbows on her knees and covered her face with her hands. As she thus sat a stern voice sounded in her ears, and this was what the voice said : Chum gu'm faiceadh cách do mhaise 'S cha b'ann 'chum gu'm faiceadh thusa Pheacaich thu, us bithidh prabach, |