Round the World Pictures

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXVI, Issue 4, 27 January 1906, Page 4

Round the World Pictures

THE OLDEST INHABITED HOUSE IN GREAT BRITAIN. The most ancient of inhabited buildings in Great Britain is Dunvegan < astle. in the Isle of S ye. Older castles there may lie. but they are in ruins. Dunvegan is to this day a beautiful home —more beautiful than two hundred years ago. when the Hanging Wood Hill at the back was in full swing, The MacLeod of MacLeod doing rough jus i e on marauder or tiresome retainer alike. More beautiful than when for The Mac Leod to meet The MacDonald, the other Lord of the Isle, meant bloodshed. That such meetings were frequent the innumerable heaps of commemorative stones scattered over the island attest. Some changes have, of course, taken pla e. The castle once stood on an island: now a eauwway joins it to the main 1 ind. the water has receded, and the water gate is high and dry. Its oubliette dungeon in which prisoners were confined and forgotten, still remains, but untenanted: the nine feet thick walls conceal many a secret recess. Net these massive walls have proved unequal to the pacific requirements of the day. So crannied and riddled is the old mortar with ag.? that an outer coating of dashing has lieen found necessary to exclu'e the mountain mists.

Outwardly, the castle is stubbornly rectangular. There is an outer court round which runs a rampart. It is in this outer court that th? St. Kilda sheen —a member of that mysterious bre d which comes by its brown wool no one knows how —is shown knee-deep in the snow. Contrast this p’qtun? with that of the waterfall. Of < ourse. the one is of summer, the other of winter. But . ven so. the contrast is remarkable, for the waterfall is within four minutes’ walk of Hie castle, and its song lulls t' c inmates of the castle to sleep. The first of the MacLeod line to take up his abode at Dunvegan was T.eod. son of Olave the Red. King of Man and the Isles. The present chief is the 23rd of this line. Between the first chief and the 23rd have intervened some chiefs of interest: two were of gigantic stature, a third fell in fair fight, a fourth fell in foul. Tile eighth. Alexander, known as Crotach or the Hunchback. died in 1553. He was an alchemist, and built the Fairy Tower, which lie is s’’d till to haunt th t he may practise his art. With the 20th chief the line became more domesticated. He < ondes ended to enter Parliament. The 22nd saved Skye to his own hurt. There was in 1847 a failure of the potato crop which meant starvation to the whole “f the popula tion. The current MacLeod rose to the occasion. He unfurled aga’n the "Fairy Flag." an ancient re'ic still carefully preserved, to lx? unfolded only in moments of direst distress: but it should use its power for good. I nfortunately for himself he also unfurled his banknotes. to the extent of manv thousands, to provide the crofters with new- seed and other necessaries, and to facilitate their migration He also planted the isles with trees. Tn these ways he so

impoverished himself that it was feared that he would have *o bring his ancestral possessions under the hammer. I'hat calamity was averted. lhe place was let. and The MacLeod accepted a post in the Science and Art Depart ment of the South Kensington Museum. Hr? was also appointed Sergeant-at-Arms in Queen Victoria's household. Queen Victoria, who made a tour of Scotland in J 847, the year of famine, though she did not land at Skye, was greatly touclied by his self-sacrifice, an,! remarked that if all lairds behaved like him distress in the Highlands would be unknown. Fortunately such a state of things cannot now recur. Many of tit? crofters still live in low little cabins of stones roofed with reeds with a bole at one end for them to creep in and out by. and another hole at the other for the smoke to go out. But

they are no longer wholly dependent on the potato crop, since they can earn a living by stocking-knitting, handloom weaving, and fish curing. Indeed, their rent is commonly taken in clef' Mention of the “Fairv Flag” re winds us of other heir-looms. By H-e s : de of the glass case in which lies th- 1 flag, stands a most ancient Irish cun of silver. the workmanshin of which is exceedingly rare and fin°. Tradition has it that the cun was brought into the family when a MacLeod married a fairv in very ancient days. And the fa—ily portraits include a verv fine Raeburn, now reproduced, we believe f ?r the fir-t time. It mav be discerned ' anging on the wall in the picture of the diningroom. The ladv i« the wrandmot' er of the present chief. Norman Magnus MacLeod. C.M.G. He was horn in 1R39 and

served in the 74th Highlanders from 1858 to 1872, and from 1863 to 1865 was A.D.C. to General Sir Hope Grant. Commander-in-Chief at Madras. In 1 73 he accompanied the British e.xpediti n sent out to South Africa to erush Cetewayo. and in 1879, having raised 80’10 Swazis, he conducted the attack on Sekukuni. He retired from the serviie some years previous to his succeeding his father in 1895, and has traveled mueh. having explored and shot b g game in India. Africa, and Amerita. Hmarried in 1881 Emily, daughter of Sir Charles Isham. Bart. He has two dau h ters, the heir presumptive being th? son of his youngest brother.