Kintail

“ Roderick Morison, minister of Kintail in 1793: ‘It is generally allowed that the Mac Raes emigrated from the braes of Aird, on the Lovat estate, to this place, though what induced them to prefer the mountains to the plains is not universally agreed upon, yet certain it is, that long after their residence in Kintail, they maintained a firm alliance with the Frasers of Aird. The tradition which prevails, that an inscription was set up nigh the entrance to Lovat House, bearing “That no Mac Rae must lodge without, when a Fraser resides within,” is not wholly without foundation. ”

“ Of Murdoch Dubh's reign, the Laird of Applecross says: "During this turbulent age, securities and writs, as well as laws, were little regarded; each man's protection lay in his own strength." Kintail regularly attended the first Parliament of Robert II., until it was decreed by that King and his Privy Council that the services of the "lesser barons" should not be required in future Parliaments or General Councils. He then returned home, and spent most of his time in hunting and wild sports, of which he was devotedly fond, living peaceably and undisturbed during the remainder of his days. ”

“ Most of the Commons are Mathesons and Murchisons but they join the McKenzies.
McRaes of Kintail
Next to the South is the Parish of Kintail and the Parish of Muick [263] a new erection in the year 1726 taken from the old Parish of Kintail. The whole country goes under the name of Kintail. The bulk of the inhabitants are of the name of McRae, descended from the Campbells, [264] but they follow the Seaforth Family. Here lies Glen Shiel.
In all this tract of ground, viz., from Lord Reay’s country on the north to Glenelg on the south, the people are but late converts to Presbytery. ”

“ There was no need for me to wrestle with any of them."
"But next to you then, who is the strongest?"
"The bear comes next to me in strength," answered Kintaro.
"And after the bear?" asked his mother again.
"Next to the bear it is not easy to say which is the strongest, for the deer, the monkey, and the hare all seem to be as strong as each other," said Kintaro.
Suddenly Kintaro and his mother were startled by a voice from outside.
"Listen to me, little boy! Next time you go, take this old man with you to the wrestling match. He would like to join the sport too!" ”

“ Quite unlike other boys, Kintaro, grew up all alone in the mountain wilds, and as he had no companions he made friends with all the animals and learned to understand them and to speak their strange talk. By degrees they all grew quite tame and looked upon Kintaro as their master, and he used them as his servants and messengers. But his special retainers were the bear, the deer, the monkey and the hare. ”

“ Kinkytail took a club and began beating on the bottom of the dishpan, and the bear heard it and he thought it was the fire engines coming after him, so he jumped out of the front door to get away. And he jumped so hard that he fell to the ground and broke two of its toenails, and it served him right, I think.
So that's how the cricket saved the Kinkytails from being robbed and eaten up, and they were very thankful to him. And he stayed with them all winter, and sometimes he had cherry pie for supper. ”

“ Kinlay was a man who had no settled occupation outside his farm. Sometimes, it is true, he went out to the herring fishing when the fish were plentiful, and he thought he could make some money by it, and he often made secret passages over to Scotland for no one knew what trade. But it was for none of these purposes that the new boat was required, for it had been built with a deep keel and a lugger rig, with a view to being a quick sailer. ”

“ STORY XIII PAPA KINKYTAIL AND GOOSEY GANDER
"Come, Mr. Kinkytail," said Mrs. Kinkytail to her husband one morning after breakfast, "it is time for you to go to your work in the hand-organ factory."
"Oh, I'm not going to work to-day," said the papa monkey, as he slowly folded the news-paper inside out so that he might read about whether it was going to rain or snow.
"Why aren't you going to work?" asked the monkey mamma.
"Because," answered her husband, "something is the matter with one of the music machines, and the engineer has to fix it. So the factory is closed, and I have a vacation. ”

“ Kintaro grew to be ten years old, and a handsome, manly lad he was. Then his mother looked at him often and sighed deeply. “Must my child grow up in this lonely forest!” thought she sadly. “Will he never take his place in the world of men! Alas! Alas!”
But Kintaro was perfectly happy. The forest was full of his playmates. Every living thing loved him. When he lay on his bed of ferns, the birds flew nestling to his shoulder, and peeped into his eyes. ”

“ One day, when Kintaro was sitting on the mountain, with his favourites about him, he sought to amuse [Pg 368] himself by getting his companions to join in a friendly wrestling match. A kindly old bear was delighted with the proposal, and at once set to work to dig up the earth and arrange it in the form of a small daïs. When this had been made a hare and a monkey wrestled together, while a deer stood by to give encouragement and to see that the sport was conducted fairly. Both animals proved themselves to be equally strong, and Kintaro tactfully rewarded them with tempting rice-cakes. ”

“ The little daughter-in-law was overjoyed when she heard that the snake-princes were coming to visit her. For ever since the snake-king had pretended to be her uncle, she always thought of little No-tail and little Cut-tail and little Dock-tail as if they had been her own cousins. Now it so happened that the very day on which they were expected at the little daughter-in-law's house was Nagpanchmi Day. The little daughter-in-law was sitting in the house all alone waiting for little Prince No-tail, little Prince Cut-tail, and little Prince Dock-tail. ”

“ They saw no human being save the few woodcutters who penetrated thus far into the forest, and these simple peasants did not guess their noble birth. The mother was known as Yama-uba-San, “The Wild Nurse of the Mountain,” and her son as “Little Wonder.”
Kintaro reigned as prince of the forest, beloved of every living creature. When he held his court, the bear and the wolf, the fox and the badger, the marten and the squirrel, and many other courtiers were seated around him. The birds, too, flocked at his call. The eagle and the hawk flew down from the distant heights ”

“ At last, when the string was all let out, there came a sudden gust of wind, and in an instant poor Zingle was drawn into the air as easily as an ordinary kite draws its tail. Up and up he soared, and the kite followed the wind and carried him over many countries until the strength died out of the air, when the kite slowly settled toward the earth and landed the Prince in the top of a tall tree. ”

“ Father eagle and mother eagle flew to the ground and began to ask the boy what his trouble was. "Do not be frightened," said father eagle; "whatever your business, I'll help you to get it done. Do not go to bed without supper. I'll bring you some fruit. Eat some of it yourself and give the rest to your little sister."
The boy told father eagle what had happened, and how it was that they had to cross the seven seas. Father eagle said, "I shall carry you both across directly you wake up to-morrow, and I shall put you down at Soma the washerwoman's door." ”

“ Our horse is surely not here. Let us search in some other region." They returned to the centre of the earth and began to bore a fresh tunnel, which in due course pierced the southern quarter of the opposite side of the earth. When they emerged into the daylight, they saw yet another elephant. "Noble elephant," said King Sagar's sons, "who are you and what are you doing here?" "My name is Mahapadma," said the elephant, "and I hold up the southern end of the earth." "Have you by any chance, noble elephant," asked King Sagar's sons, "seen our father's horse led by an aged woman." ”

“ The rustling of their motion as they swim against the sky is like the sound of wind in a cane-field. A little farther off I see another very big fish, with a little red boy clinging to its back. That red boy represents Kintoki, strongest of all children ever born in Japan, who, while still a baby, wrestled with bears and set traps for goblin-birds. ”

“ When this was finished, Kintaro cried out:
"Now begin! the monkey and the hare shall open the sports and the deer shall be umpire. Now, Mr. Deer, you are to be umpire!"
"He, he!" answered the deer. "I will be umpire. Now, Mr. Monkey and Mr. Hare, if you are both ready, please walk out and take your places on the platform."
Then the monkey and the hare both hopped out, quickly and nimbly, to the wrestling platform. The deer, as umpire, stood between the two and called out:
"Red-back! Red-back!" (this to the monkey, who has a red back in Japan) . "Are you ready?" ”

“ I never saw a man in such a temper in all my life. Every one in the train rejoiced that the Indian had escaped but they all appeared to sympathize with Kinney for they were afraid of being killed if they showed any signs of satisfaction. Kinney saddled his mule, took his dog along, and started out to track the Indian. The wind had blown sand in ridges and hummocks, covering the Indian's trail. So after hunting for half a day in all directions and being unable to track him, Kinney re- turned to the wagon train and we started on. ”

“ Carver Kinlay, black bearded and hoarse of voice, was reading aloud to his family, and seemed to be expecting from them an attention to the Holy Word which he certainly did not sincerely give to it himself. When he came to the end of a passage which he considered required expounding, he would take off his reading spectacles and wipe them with a corner of his wife's white apron.
"Now, I have explained many times before about this, bairns," he was saying as he looked towards Thora and Tom. "It is a rule, a golden rule, that the merest child might understand. ”

“ But, when the seventh little boy was born only to die just as his guests were beginning to enjoy their dinner, the poor Brahman lost all patience. He took the newly-born child and placed it in his daughter-in-law's lap and then drove her out of the house and into the jungle. The poor woman walked along until she came to a great, dark forest. In it she met the wife of a hobgoblin, [2] who asked, "Lady, Lady, whose wife are you, and why do you come here? Run away as quickly as you can. For, if my husband the hobgoblin sees you, he will tear you to pieces and gobble you up." ”

“ Kinlay seemed to regard her with very scant affection, and as the girl grew in years her position at the farm became that of a servant rather than of a daughter. As for Carver Kinlay himself, he seldom spoke a gentle word to body or beast, and Thora had no exception from his severity. ”

“ A ruddy cinnamon tints the quill-feathers of the wings; and the tail consists partly of black feathers tipped with white, the two outer ones being of the same tint as the back. The under surface is a pure white. It has a long curved bill of a greyish-black above, and yellow beneath. The female differs from the male in having the central tail-feathers of a drab colour, while the under part of her body is of a greyish tinge.
Early in the spring the males frequently engage in desperate battles. ”

“ Kincaid had shot.
"Only one," said he. "They're a lively proposition."
"What are they?" asked Bobby.
"Teal. They often fly low just over the marsh, and drop in unexpectedly like that."
Daylight was full and broad now; and the sun was rising. With it came the first signs of wind. Ducks filled the air in all directions, some circling about other ponds; others winging their way in long flights toward distant feeding grounds. Every few moments Mr. Kincaid had a shot as some of these dropped to [Pg 192] the decoys. Sometimes they came down boldly in an attempt to alight ”

“ Out on the road a liveried black coachman had halted an open carriage, in which this soldier had arrived with two ladies. Now these bowed delightedly from it to the General, while Kincaid and his friend stood close hid and listened agape, equally amused and dismayed.
"How are you, Mandeville?" said the General. "I am not nearly as much alone as I seem, sir!"
A voice just beyond the green-veiled fence cast a light on this reply and brought a flush to the Creole's very brows. "Alas! Greenleaf," it cried, "we search in vain! He is not here! We are even more alone than we seem! Ah! ”

“ Mr. Kinchin took his collie down to the stable yard, turned her inside and then said in the urgent aspirate a man uses to a dog, “Find 'em, Lou; hunt 'em up, gal!”
She came out of her lethargy, pricked up her ears and began trotting about over the the lot sniffing at the cow tracks and at the dried manure. Presently she whined at her master. Mr. Kinchin motioned in the general direction of the circling buzzards. “Go git 'em, girl,” he aspirated. “Go after 'em.” ”

“ To-day I called by appointment on the Earl of Kinnoul, a small man, with a face like the caricature of an owl; he said he had sent for me to tell me all my birds were alike, and he considered my work a swindle. He may really think this, his knowledge is probably small; but it is not the custom to send for a gentleman to abuse him in one's own house. I heard his words, bowed, and without speaking, left the rudest man I have met in this land; but he is only thirty, and let us hope may yet learn how to behave to a perfect stranger under his roof. ”