ainst the unpolished customs of the natives of
Kintail. It is needless to add that by these means he gained for himself
many enemies, and forfeited the good wishes of all around him. Finding
himself thus disagreeably situated, after an absence of four years, he
returned to Skye, where he was cordially received by his chief, and put
in possession of his former farm at Breakish. After being twelve years a
widower he went to Inverness for the purpose of visiting some of his
schoolfellows who resided there. Previous to his leaving the capital of
the Highlands his acquaintances there urged upon him the propriety of
marrying a widow lady of the name of Mackintosh, whom they represented
as being possessed of considerable means. He reluctantly complied with
their wishes, but it became soon too apparent to him that he did so at
the expense of his own happiness. His bride was not only penniless but
deeply involved in debt. Next morning after his marriage he was visited
by messengers who served him with summonses for a heavy debt due by his
wife. In the impulse of the moment, while he held the summons in his
hand, he seized a pen, and having taken his bride's Bible, wrote the
following expressive lines on the blank leaf:--

"Tha'n saoghal air a roinn,
Tha da dhan ann,
Tha dan ann gu bhi sona,
Ach tha dan an donuis ann."

This marriage proved, in every respect, an unhappy one. The lady, as a
stepmother, was peevish, harsh, and undutiful. Her cruelty to her
husband's children was a continual source of grief to him, and of
unhappiness to his domestic circle. On a certain day, the lady
quarrelling with one of her step-daughters, told her she hated to see
her face, and that she always considered the day an unlucky one on which
she had the misfortune to meet her first in the morning. The girl,
inheriting no doubt a share of her father's power of repartee, quickly
answered her stepmother, and said, "You have every cause to believe that
it is unlucky to meet me, for I was first-foot to my dear father the
unfortunate morning on which he left home to marry you."

Even amid his misfortunes, which he endured with much forbearance,
_Lachlan Mac Thearlaich_ was renowned for his hospitality and genuine
Highland friendship. Remote though the period be since he lived, still
his memory is fondly cherished in the place. He was possessed of so
endearing accomplishments, that time itself can hardly wipe away his
memory from the min