XV. The while the bonfires blazed without, In every home the board was spread. To his inmost bosom took XVI. He feasted them with the venison fine Rare wine, which to the Western Isles The battles, where in mortal feud Clan Cameron 'gainst Clan Chattan stood; He closed with Cromwell's staunchest men, 7. "Jeanie Cameron there apart, Where our people crowned the brae, 8. "Loud the shouting shakes the earth, Along those western shores revive, THE CLAN ROTHAICH, OR MUNROS.-We are glad to notice various indications that Inverness is progressing in the direction of taking its proper place in the publishing world. Mr Mackenzie has issued some valuable works within the last few years, and we are glad now to find that Mr John Noble has in the press the History of the Munros, and ancient family of Foulis, from 1031 to the present time, with notices of the junior branches of the Clan. The author of this work is Major-General Stewart-Allan, F.S.A., Scot., who wrote the New Statistical Account of the Parishes of Edderton and Kincardine, in Ross-shire. He is a grandson of the wellknown anthor of the Gaelic Grammar, recently re-published by Maclachlan & Stewart, and nephew of the late Mr Stewart of Cromarty, Hugh Miller's intimate and valued friend. The Munros are a very ancient family. We have several accounts of their origin, but it has been maintained that they came originally from Ireland, in accordance with the foolish and unpatriotic craze of almost all our Highland families for claiming a foreign origin. We prefer the account which traces them from the Siol O'Cain, and which Skene says has been converted into O'Cathan, thus forming Clan Chattan. Sir George Mackenzie says the name of the Clan was originally Bunroe. The eighth baron married a grand-niece of King Robert II. of Scotland. In the charters by which the Munros hold their lands, they are declared to hold them by the peculiar tenure of furnishing the King with a ball of snow off Ben Wyvis in mid-summer, if called upon to do so; and when the Duke of Cumberland was in the North in 1746, the Munros actually supplied him with snow to cool his wines. The Clan produced some very distinguished military officers, especially the "Black Baron," who so distinguished himself in the wars of Gustavus Adolphus. In this service there were at one time not less than three Generals, eight Colonels, five Lieutenant-Colonels, eleven Majors, and about thirty Captains, all of the name of Munro, besides a great number of Subalterns. These officers, in addition to the use of rich buttons, were allowed by Adolphus the peculiar and distinguished privilege of wearing a gold chain round their necks, to secure the wearer, in case of being wounded or taken prisoner, good treatment, or payment of future ransom. Indeed the history of the Munros is of such a nature that not only will it prove interesting to members of the Clan, but to the general reader who takes any interest in questions of family history connected with the Highlands. B THE PROPHECIES OF THE BRAHAN SEER, COINNEACH ODHAR FIOSAICHE. BY THE EDITOR. THE gift of prophecy, second-sight, or Taibhsearachd, claimed for and believed by many to have been possessed, in an eminent degree, by Coinneach Odhar, the Brahan Seer, is one, the belief in which scientific men and others of the present day accept as unmistakable signs of looming, if not of actual, insanity. We are all, or would be considered, scientific in these days, and, therefore, it will scarcely appear prudent for any one who would wish to lay claim to the slightest modicum of common sense, to say nothing of an acquaintance with the elementary principles of science, to commit to paper his ideas on the subject, unless he is prepared, in doing so, to follow the common horde in their all but universal scepticism. Without committing ourselves to any specific faith on the subject, however difficult it may be to explain away what follows on strictly scientific grounds, we shall place before the reader the extraordinary predictions of the Brahan Seer. We have had slight experiences of our own, which we would hesitate to dignify by the name of second-sight, but would rather leave the reader to explain them away, and to designate them by whatever name he pleases, after he has carefully examined and considered them. It is not, however, with our own experiences that we have at present to do, but with the " Prophecies" of Coinneach Odhar Fiosaiche. He is beyond comparison the most distinguished of all our Highland Seers, and his prophecies have been known throughout the whole country for more than two centuries. The popular faith in them has been, and still continues to be, strong and wide-spread. Even Sir Walter Scott, Sir Humphrey Davy, Mr Morrit, Lockhart, and many other eminent contemporaries of the "Last of the Seaforths" firmly believed in the predictions. Many of them were known, and were recited from one generation to another, centuries before they were fulfilled. Some of them have been fulfilled in our own day, and many are still unfulfilled. Not so much with the view of protecting ourselves from the charge of a belief in such superstitious folly (for we would hesitate to acknowledge any such belief), but as a kind of slight palliation for obtruding such nonsense on the public, we might point out, by the way, that the sacred writers, who are now considered by many of the would-be considered wise to have been behind the age, and not near so wise and far-seeing as we are, believed in second-sight, witchcraft, and other visions of a supernatural kind. But then we shall be told by our scientific friends that the Bible itself is becoming obsolete, and that it has already served its turn; being only suited for an unenlightened age in which such men as Shakspere, Milton, Newton, Bacon, and such unscien tific men could be considered distinguished. The truth is that on more important topics than the one we are now considering, the Bible is laid aside by many of our would-be-scientific lights, whenever it treats of anything beyond the puny comprehension of the minds and intellectual vision of these enquirers after truth. We have all grown so scientific that the mere idea of supposing anything possible, which is beyond the intellectual grasp of the scientific enquirer, cannot be entertained, although even he must admit, that in many cases, the greatest men in science, and the mightiest intellects, find it impossible to understand or explain away many things as to the existence of which they can have no possible doubt. We even find the clergy slightly inconsistent in questions of this kind. They solemnly desire to impress us with the fact that ministering spirits hover about the couches and the apartments in which the dying Christian is drawing near the close of his existence, and preparing to throw off his mortal coil; but were we to suggest the possibility of any human being, in any way, feeling the presence of these ghostly visitors, or discovering any signs, or indications, of the early departure of a relative or of an intimate friend, our heathen ideas and devious wanderings, from the safe channel of clerical orthodoxy and consistent inconsistency, would be howled against, and paraded before the faithful as the grossest superstition, with an enthusiasm and relish possible only in a strait-laced ecclesiastic. Many able men have written on the second sight, and to some of them we shall probably refer as we proceed, but meanwhile our purpose is to place before the reader the Prophecies of Coinneach Odhar as far as we have been able to procure them, with the aid of those who have so kindly assisted us in their collection. Among others, we are specially indebted to Mr Donald Macintyre, teacher, Arpafeelie, and Mr A. B. Maclennan, police constable, Croy. We understand that a considerable collection of the Seer's predictions has been made by the late Alexander Cameron of Lochmaddy, author of the " 'History and Traditions of the Isle of Skye," but we were unable to discover into whose possession the manuscript found its way; we hope, however, that this reference may bring it to light, and that the possessor will favour us with its perusal, that we may give as good an account of the Ross-shire Prophet as it is possible to give at this time of day. The Seer was a dependant of the great Seaforths, and lived on the Brahan estate, in the neighbourhood of Loch Ussie. He was born in the early part of the seventeenth century, a few years before the Commonwealth. He was distinguished far and wide for his prophetic powers, and was also very shrewd and clear-headed, considering his menial position. Kenneth was always ready with a smart answer, and if any attempted to raise the laugh at his expense, seldom or ever did he fail to turn it against his tormentors. His position in society was only that of a common farm servant. His mistress, the farmer's wife, was unusually exacting with him, and he, in return, continually teased and expended, on many occasions, much of his natural wit upon her, much to her annoyance and chagrin. Latterly his conduct became so unbearable that she decided upon getting him disposed of in a manner which would save |