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| In 1408, Donald, Lord of the Isles, the hero
of Harlaw, made a grant of lands in Islay to Brian Vicar Mackay, one of the old Mackays of
the island. The charter conveying these lands still exists, and is written in the Gaelic
language. As it is now published by the Record Commission, it is not necessary to give it
here, but it is a document of much interest, written by Fergus M'Beth or Beaton, one of
the famous Beatons who were physicians to the Lord of the Isles, and signed with the
holograph of the great island chief himself. The lands conveyed are in the eastern part of
the island, north of the Mull of Oa, and embrace such well-known places as Baile-Vicar,
Cornabus, Tocamol, Cracobus, &c. The style of the charter is that of the usual feudal
charters written in Latin, but the remarkable thing is to find a document of the kind
written in Gaelic at a time when such a thing was almost unknown in the Saxon dialects of
either Scotland or England. |
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