Conclusion of the toast with raised glasses.
Tomorrow, It’s the Royal Mile
Where Scottish nobles rode in style
And after but a little while
We’re on our way
But, we’ll be leaving with a smile
To come back some day.
So now I bid you raise a glass
To John and Gordon, unsurpassed
Who led us on this tour first class
Filled with a wealth
Of Scottish lore and fine repast
We drink your health.
During the early seventeenth century, King James VI of Scotland outlawed Clan MacGregor meaning that anyone who went by that surname could be executed. The ban was reversed by King Charles II and reinstated by William of Orange. It remained in effect until 1774. Sir Walter Scott’s 1817 novel, Rob Roy, cast the MacGregors in a favorable light and removed the stigma of the ban. Curiously, Rob Roy is not the novel’s protagonist. He doesn’t appear until the middle of the book but he does play an important role in the plot development.
The lovely Trossachs were the hame
Of Clan MacGregor, robbed of name,
‘Til Walter Scott removes the stain
When well he pens,
Rob Roy, a book that brings them fame
And some amends.
In 1692, Glen Coe was the scene of the massacre of a branch of Clan MacDonald by an Argyle regiment (mostly Campbells) under orders from King William (of Orange). The MacDonalds quartered and fed the soldiers who rose up during the night and attacked their hosts. Two officers of the regiment broke their swords and refused to participate in this attack — a clear case of “murder under trust.” Under Scottish law, murder under trust is considered a more heinous crime than ordinary murder.
A ferry ride to the mainland shore
Past castle ruins from days of yore
We go by slate quarries and more
To Glen Coe
And then pass through wild Rannoch Moor
As on we go.
The Campbells in a snow storm came
And sheltered in MacDonalds’ hame
And then their hosts did slay and maim
Perfidious woe
An act that brought their Clan ill fame
At cruel Glen Coe.
Castle Duart, overlooking the Sound of Mull and the Firth of Lorne, was for centuries the home of Clan MacLean. The MacLeans supported Bonnie Prince Charlie and when he fell at Culloden, abandoned the castle. Later, it was burned by the English and remained a ruin until Sir Fitzroy MacLean, a veteran of the Crimean War, bought it and restored it.
MacLeans, the thanes of Castle Duart,
Allies of James Edward Stuart
Whose bid for king was royally skewered
In days of yore
Left their lands without a steward,
And returned no more.
So Duart fell to disarray
And many years in ruin lay
‘Til Fitzroy of Crimean fray,
To Duart came,
And made it as it is today
Clan MacLean’s hame.