portant factor in Highland society. From the earliest
period the Highlanders were fond of music and dancing, and the notes of
the bag-pipe moved them as no other instrument could. The piper
performed his duty in peace as well as in war. At harvest homes,
Hallowe'en christenings, weddings, and evenings spent in dancing, he was
the hero for the occasion. The people took delight in the high-toned
warlike notes to which they danced, and were charmed with the solemn and
melancholy airs which filled up the pauses. Withal the piper was a
humorous fellow and was full of stories.

The harp was a very ancient musical instrument, and was called
_clarsach_. It had thirty strings, with the peculiarity that the front
arm was not perpendicular to the sounding board, but turned considerably
towards the left, to afford a greater opening for the voice of the
performer, and this construction showed that the accompaniment of the
voice was a chief province of the harper. Some harps had but four
strings. Great pains were taken to decorate the instrument. One of the
last harpers was Roderick Morrison, usually called Rory Dall. He served
the chief of Mac Leod. He flourished about 1650.

Referring again to Gaelic music it may be stated that its air can
easily be detected. It is quaint and pathetic, moving one with intervals
singular in their irregularity. When compared with the common airs among
the English, the two are found to be quite distinct. The airs to which
"Scots wha hae," "Auld Langsyne," "Roy's Wife," "O a' the Airts," and
"Ye Banks and Braes" are written, are such that nothing similar can be
found in England. They are Scottish. Airs of precisely the same
character are, however, found among all Keltic races.

No portraiture of a Highlander would be complete without a description
of his garb. His costume was as picturesque as his native hills. It was
well adapted to his mode of life. By its lightness and freedom he was
enabled to use his limbs and handle his arms with ease and dexterity. He
moved with great swiftness. Every clan had a plaid of its own, differing
in the combination of its colors from all others. Thus a Cameron, a Mac
Donald, a Mac Kenzie, etc., was known by his plaid; and in like manner
the Athole, Glenorchy, and other colors of different districts were
easily discernible. Besides those of tribal designations, industrious
housewives had patterns, distinguished by the set, superior quality, and
fineness of the cloth,