Page:The Story of the Cheeryble Grants.djvu/43

 

, in his famous song, makes “Bonnie Dundee” say:— “If there’s lords in the South, there are chiefs in the North;” and, similarly, it may he said:— “If there’s dales in the South, there are straths in the North.” From Clydesdale and Tweeddale, southwards, the Anglo-Saxon “dale” prevails, while, northwards, the Gaelic “strath” is used, as in Strathearn, Stratherrick, Strathnairn and many kindred names.

One of the most picturesque and beautiful, as well as one of the most romantic of these northern valleys is Strathspey. It has been the home of the ancient and powerful clan Grant since they displaced the lordly Comyns. And there, in some respects, the old clan feeling still survives. Like the fitful, yet stirring, strains of the bagpipes from a distant, storm-swept hill, come historic notes of Strathspey from the far-off past. While the Danes were struggling strenuously in the South of England to gain that supremacy over the Saxon in the southern realm, which they ultimately achieved in 1016, Danish forces were operating