He was not,
indeed, so luxuriously attended upon this occasion as the heroic
travellers in the Odyssey; the task of ablution and abstersion being
performed, not by a beautiful damsel, trained
To chafe the limb, and pour the fragrant oil,
but by a smoke-dried skinny old Highland woman, who did not seem to think
herself much honoured by the duty imposed upon her, but muttered between
her teeth, 'Our fathers' herds did not feed so near together that I
should do you this service.' A small donation, however, amply reconciled
this ancient handmaiden to the supposed degradation; and, as Edward
proceeded to the hall, she gave him her blessing in the Gaelic proverb,
'May the open hand be filled the fullest.'
The hall, in which the feast was prepared, occupied all the first story
of lan nan Chaistel's original erection, and a huge oaken table extended
through its whole length. The apparatus for dinner was simple, even to
rudeness, and the company numerous, even to crowding. At the head of the
table was the Chief himself, with Edward, and two or three Highland
visitors of neighbouring clans; the elders of his own tribe, wadsetters
and tacksmen, as they were called, who occupied portions of his estate as
mortgagers or lessees, sat next in rank; beneath them, their sons and
nephews and foster-brethren; then the officers of the Chief's household,
according to their order; and lowest of all, the tenants who actually
cultivated the ground.
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