A sair job we had of it before we got him shipped ; and while he still lay in the heather , the English rogues , that couldnae come at his life , were striking at his rights . They stripped him of his powers ; they stripped him of his lands ; they plucked the weapons from the hands of his clansmen , that had borne arms for thirty centuries ; ay , and the very clothes off their backs -- so that it 's now a sin to wear a tartan plaid , and a man may be cast into a gaol if he has but a kilt about his legs . One thing they couldnae kill . That was the love the clansmen bore their chief . These guineas are the proof of it . And now , in there steps a man , a Campbell , red-headed Colin of Glenure -- '' `` Is that him you call the Red Fox ? '' said I. `` Will ye bring me his brush ? '' cries Alan , fiercely . `` Ay , that 's the man . In he steps , and gets papers from King George , to be so-called King 's factor on the lands of Appin . And at first he sings small , and is hail-fellow-well-met with Sheamus -- that 's James of the Glens , my chieftain 's agent . But by-and-by , that came to his ears that I have just told you ; how the poor commons of Appin , the farmers and the crofters and the boumen , were wringing their very plaids to get a second rent , and send it over-seas for Ardshiel and his poor bairns . What was it ye called it , when I told ye ? '' `` I called it noble , Alan , '' said I. `` And you little better than a common Whig ! '' cries Alan . `` But when it came to Colin Roy , the black Campbell blood in him ran wild . He sat gnashing his teeth at the wine table . What ! should a Stewart get a bite of bread , and him not be able to prevent it ? Ah !
Red XXXXX , if ever I hold you at a gun 's end , the Lord have pity upon ye ! ''
Alan Ardshiel Ay Fox George Sheamus first guineas kilt tartan