odies. It was always a
treat to get a Gaelic song or two well rendered. At Acharacle (a little
place at the far end of Lochshiel) Mr. Rudd's piper gave some fine
Highland tunes, which evoked great enthusiasm. Personally I prefer the
pipes to every other instrument, for this reason, that even if I don't
understand all the music, I can appreciate the scenic effects. The
Acharacle piper was a fine specimen of the Celt, and his get-up was
glorious:

"He screwed his pipes and gart them skirl
Till roof and rafters a' did dirl."

Sometimes the phonograph formed part of the musical programme. I do not
approve of this demoralising instrument except to a very limited extent.
The cylinders usually gyrate with records of fatuous music-hall songs,
unedifying coster-airs and farcical speeches. The _vox humana_
interpreting national melodies is infinitely better. What vigour and
illustrative expression the islanders can throw into their songs! I have
but to shut my eyes to see the policeman of Staffin interpreting "The
Bonnie House o' Airlie." When his big, manly voice threw out the
terrible threat, "_I'll no' leave a staunin' stane in Airlie_," his eyes
shot fire, his teeth gleamed, and his ponderous fist came thundering
down on the table in front of him.

I still remember with infinite pleasure the strains of Mr. Cameron's
Poolewe Choir, heard in Gairloch school-house. That energetic and
complaisant conductor brought his clear-throated minstrels over to the
meeting in a brake. It was a luxury to see them with their white robes
and tartan sashes, while in front of them stood their genial leader clad
in kilts. The Gaelic _Mod_, which is now a regular institution in the
land, is bound to do splendid service towards keeping alive the fine old
music of the North. The Poolewe Choir, I am happy to say, won much
distinction at the _Mods_ of both Inverness and Greenock. _There is
great need for choirs, and great need, also, for innocent songs of a
secular character._ Before I spoke to the people of Eigg, I requested
the teacher to arrange, if possible, for a musical programme. The reply
staggered me: "No man, woman, or child in this island would for a moment
even dream of singing a worldly song. We are all converted here, except
a few benighted Catholics. The vain, fleeting joys of this world are as
dross to us. The missionary has a modulator, and he trains the young men
and women in the sol-fa so that they may sing Sankey's hymns