The peat-fire flame : folk-tales and traditions of the Highlands & Islands

THE PEAT-FIRE FLAME
this hillock is supposed to mark the spot where was interred
the miscreant whom Fletcher killed with the tethering-peg,
it still goes by a Gaelic name meaning the Grave of the
Stranger.
" The Sweetest Bite."
Among the doughtiest of the Highland chiefs in. olden
times was Sir Ewen Cameron of Locheil, XVIIth Chief of
the Clan Cameron. The following folk-tale concerning Sir
Ew^en is yet recited round the peat-fire flame in Locheil'
Country.
When, at the instance of Oliver Cromwell, General Monk
came to Scotland to assume military control, he strove as
hard by corruption as by violence to break down the
resistance to the new regime. Namely among those continuing
to espouse the cause of the suspended monarchy was
Sir Ewen Cameron, whose loyalty Monk, by all manner of
subtlety and bribery, endeavoured to suborn. Monk actually
tried to tempt Locheil to exchange his fealty for extensive
lands in the neighbourhood of Loch Arkaig, and for a
position of importance in the army, for he was, indeed, what
the Scots would call " a bonnie fechter." To these overtures
was added the promise to meet such debts as Locheil had
incurred.
But Locheil would have none of it. Monk, therefore,
resolved to overcome his obstinacy by sterner methods. So
he stationed a garrison of some two thousand men at Inver-
lochy, on the fringe of Locheil's Country, with a view to
bringing it more directly under his observation and control.
It is said that, in addition to these troops, Monk engaged a
large body of workmen, whom he employed in various ways
connected with the maintenance and efficiency of the
garrison.
Only a few days after the formation of this force. Colonel
Bryan, Governor at Inverlochy, gave directions for two boats,
manned by officers and men, to be used for transporting
fresh supplies of timber, which were required both for the
purpose of fuelling and of enlarging the garrison's quarters.
One of the boats anchored on the Lochaber side of Loch
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