cunningly
prepared by foreign cooks, the like of which the Highlanders had never
before tasted; but the mountaineers ate stolidly whatever was set in
front of them, and if unusual flavours saluted their palates, the
strangers made no sign of approval or the reverse. The red wine of
Burgundy, grown old in the king's cellars, was new to most of them,
and they drank it like water, emptying their tankards as fast as the
attendant could refill them. Soon the ruddy fluid, whose potency had
been under-estimated, began to have its effect, and the dinner table
became noisy as the meal progressed, songs bursting forth now and
then, with strange shouts and cries more familiar to the hills of
Loch Tay than to the rafters of Stirling. The chief himself, lost the
solemn dignity which had at first characterised him, and as he emptied
flagon after flagon he boasted loudly of the prowess of his clan;
foretold what he would do in future fields now that he was allied with
the King of Scotland. Often forgetting himself, he fell into the
Gaelic, roaring forth a torrent of words that had no meaning for many
there present, then remembering the king did not understand the
language, he expressed his pity for a man in such condition, saying
the Gaelic was the oldest tongue in existence, and the first spoken
by human lips upon this earth. It was much more expressive, he said,
than the dialect of the Lowlands, and the only language that could
fittingly describe war and battle, just as the pibroch was the only
music suitable to strife, to all of which the smiling king nodded
approval. At last MacNab sprang to his feet, holding aloft his
brimming flagon, which literally rained Burgundy down upon him, and
called for cheers for the King of Scotland, a worthy prince who knew
well how to entertain a brother prince. Repeating this in Gaelic, his
men, who had also risen with their chief, now sprang upon the benches,
where standing unsteadily, they raised a series of yells so wild that
a shudder of fear passed through many of the courtiers there present.
The chief, calling to his piper, commanded him instantly to compose a
pibroch for the king, and that ready musician, swelling with pride,
marched up and down and round and round the great hall pouring forth
a triumphal quickstep, with many wonderful flourishes and variations.
Then at a word from the chief, each man placed his flagon on the
table, whipped out his sword, swung it overhead, to the amazement o