and Columba.

It appears evident that the iconoclastic Parliament of 1560, which made
it unlawful to obey the Pope or say mass, pretty effectually paralysed
the Catholic Church in the land. Only in secluded districts, such as
Uist, Barra, Morar, Arisaig, and Glengarry, were the faithful safe from
prosecution. The organisation of the Church was maimed and broken, and
hundreds of priests took to flight. To use the cruel words of Milton--

"Then might ye see
Cowls, hoods, and habits, with their wearers, tossed
And fluttered into rags; then relics, beads,
Indulgences, dispenses, pardons, bulls--
The sport of winds."

Having visited a fair number of Catholic districts in the West of
Scotland, I have given myself the pleasure of reading, as far as is
available, the historical records of the Pope's faithful adherents
there. _These are most interesting as showing the pertinacity of
religious faith among the most hostile surroundings._ The Scots College
at Rome, founded by Clement VIII., supplied a large number of priests,
who spread themselves abroad in the glens, and kept the old faith from
completely perishing. The Roman Catholic College at Scanlan, on the
Braes of Glenlivet, was a turf-built erection, dating from 1712. It was
often compulsorily closed and the students dispersed. The most important
school for priests in the West was at Buorblach, near Morar. Here the
aspirants for priesthood studied for a year or two, after which they
proceeded to some one of the Scots colleges abroad--such as Paris,
Ratisbon, Valladolid, or Rome. Those students who received the whole of
their instruction at home, and got ordained without going abroad, were
styled _heather priests_.

The best-known Catholic township of the West Highlands at the present
time is undoubtedly Arisaig, a charming spot, where the mild air allows
the wild flowers to spring in profusion and where the fuchsia thrives
better than anywhere else in Scotland. There is a strikingly elegant
Catholic Church here, built on a commanding site that dominates the bay.
In September, 1904, I addressed a meeting in the Astley Hall of Arisaig,
under the genial chairmanship of the Clerk of the House of Commons. The
audience was overwhelmingly Catholic, and it was quite evident that all
were keenly appreciative of the library that had recently been sent to
the district. It gave me no ordinary pleasure to note that the literary
society of