NOTE 21.—­MAC-FARLANE’S LANTERN

The clan of Mac-Farlane, occupying the fastnesses of the western side of Loch Lomond, were great depredators on the Low Country; and as their excursions were made usually by night, the moon was proverbially called their lantern.  Their celebrated pibroch of HOGGIL Nam Bo, which is the name of their gathering tune, intimates similar practices,—­the sense being—­

     We are bound to drive the bullocks,
     All by hollows, hirsts, and hillocks,
     Through the sleet and through the rain;
     When the moon is beaming low
     On frozen lake and hills of snow,
     Bold and heartily we go;
     And all for little gain.

NOTE 22.—­CASTLE OF DOUNE

This noble ruin is dear to my recollection, from associations which have been long and painfully broken.  It holds a commanding station on the banks of the river Teith, and has been one of the largest castles in Scotland.  Murdock, Duke of Albany, the founder of this stately pile, was beheaded on the Castle-hill of Stirling, from which he might see the towers of Doune, the monument of his fallen greatness.

In 1745-6, as stated in the text, a garrison on the part of the Chevalier was put into the castle, then less ruinous than at present.  It was commanded by Mr. Stewart of Balloch, as governor for Prince Charles he was a man of property near Callander.  This castle became at that time the actual scene of a romantic escape made by John Home, the author of Douglas, and some other prisoners, who, having been taken at the battle of Falkirk, were confined there by the insurgents.  The poet, who had in his own mind a large stock of that romantic and enthusiastic spirit of adventure, which he has described as animating the youthful hero of his drama, devised and undertook the perilous enterprise of escaping from his prison.  He inspired his companions with his sentiments and when every attempt at open force was deemed hopeless, they resolved to twist their bed-clothes into ropes, and thus to descend.  Four persons, with Home himself, reached the ground in safety.  But the rope broke with the fifth, who was a tall lusty man.  The sixth was Thomas Barrow, a brave young Englishman, a particular friend of Home’s.  Determined to take the risk, even in such unfavourable circumstances, Barrow committed himself to the broken rope, slid down on it as far as if could assist him, and then let himself drop.  His friends beneath succeeded in breaking his fall.  Nevertheless, he dislocated his ankle, and had several of his ribs broken.  His companions, however, were able to bear him off in safety.

The Highlanders next morning sought for their prisoners with great activity.  An old gentleman told the author he remembered seeing the commander Stewart,

Bloody with spurring, fiery red with haste,