t Ardvoirlich, and his body was being carried to Dundurn
for burial, but the Drummonds and Murrays, who were at enmity with the
clan, threatened to intercept the funeral, and a snowstorm coming on,
they interred the body on the loch side near the spot where the stone
is, and subsequently took it to the chapel.

Another head-stone of considerable interest is to be seen hear the
entrance to the grounds of Ardvoirlich itself. It marks the place
where the remains of seven of the Macdonalds were interred, the legend
being that that clan, on their way to or from a raid on Glenartney
Forest, attacked Ardvoirlich House, and the men of the clan being
absent with their cattle on the hills, the lady of the house kept them
at bay until the men came down, and then they slaughtered all the
Macdonalds, except one man, and their bodies were buried in a hole on
the loch side. Years after, on excavating to make a pond for cattle to
drink from, a number of human bones were found, and the stone was
erected to mark the spot.

Another object of considerable antiquarian interest in the possession
of the Ardvoirlich family is the charm-stone. It is said by tradition
to have been brought from the Holy Land at the time of the Crusades by
the Fitz-Allans, who were progenitors of the Stewarts, and who were
active Crusaders. It was considered a most holy stone, and had healing
properties of a high order. It is a very perfect specimen of rock
crystal; the silver setting is Saracenic in character, and said to be
very old. Up to 1840, and even later, people used to come to
Ardvoirlich from long distances to have the stone immersed in water,
while a Gaelic incantation was repeated by the laird or lady. Then the
water was carried home, and one condition was that the possessor of the
water must not enter any house until home was reached; then if given to
cattle to drink, or sprinkled over them, it acted as a perfect cure for
any murrain or disease.

On the death of the laird in 1854, the stone was sent into a bank for
safe custody, and then all the healing properties were destroyed. It
was said also that the last lady of Ardvoirlich who used it, and who
was a Maxtone of Cultoquhey, had no Gaelic, and was too lowland by
birth to believe in it, and she most irreverently (not knowing the
Gaelic incantation) just repeated--"If it'll dae ye nae guid, it'll dae
ye nae hairm," and that also destroyed the charm.

Another object which does not fail to