Tributes to Ewen

Ewen inspired his share of songs and stories. I've detailed a number of them below. You can click through to visit the full text.

Most famously, he's immortalized in Sir Walter Scott's "Lady of the Lake." Check out my "Real History" page for Chapter 27 to read more details.

In the meantime, I will refer you to one of Scott's footnotes recounting one of my favorite Ewen stories. Scott writes: "It is reported of old Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel, when upwards of seventy, that he was surprised by night on a hunting or military expedition. He wrapped him in his plaid, and lay contentedly down upon the snow, with which the ground happened to be covered. Among his attendants, who were preparing to take their rest in the same manner, he observed that one of his grandsons, for his better accommodation, had rolled a large snow-ball, and placed it below his head. The rath of the ancient chief was awakened by a symptom of what he conceived to be degenerate luxury. 'Out upon thee,' said he, kicking the frozen bolster from the head which it supported, 'art thou so effeminate as to need a pillow?'"

The following is taken from a poem written in 1657, in honor of Ewen's marriage, quoted here from the Clan Cameron Archives:

"Oft I, young Chief, have heard thine actions told,
Thy person prais'd, thy generous name extol'd;
Now to my eyes, these graces stand confest,
With which kind fame my ravished eares possess'd.

See! his fresh looks with manly beautys glow,
His brawn and air, his strength and vigour show,
In just proportion every feature shines,
And goodness softens the majestick lines,
The charms of modesty through all we trace,
And winning sweetness smiles in every grace."

The Whig historian Thomas Babbington Macaulay raved about Ewen, excerpted here from Galton.org:

"He was a gracious master, a trusty ally, a terrible enemy. His countenance
and bearing were singularly noble...Lochiel was tall and strongly
built. In agility and skill at his weapons he had few equals among the
inhabitants of the hills. He had repeatedly been victorious in single
combat. He was a hunter of great fame. He made vigorous war on the
wolves which, down to his time, preyed on the red deer of the
Grampians; and by his hand perished the last of the ferocious breed
which is known to have wandered at large in our island. Nor was Lochiel
less distinguished by intellectual than by bodily vigour...he was
eminently wise in council, eloquent in debate, ready in devising
expedients, and skilful in managing the minds of men. His understanding
preserved him from those follies into which pride and anger frequently
hurried his brother chieftains. Many, therefore, who regarded his
brother chieftains as mere barbarians, mentioned him with respect. Even
at the Dutch Embassy in St. James's Square he was spoken of as a man of
such capacity and courage that it would not be easy to find his equal.
As a patron of literature he ranks with the magnificent Dorset...He was
the Ulysses of the Highlands."

From The Grameid by James Philip of Almerieclose, 1691, translated from the Latin and
excerpted from the Clan Cameron Archives:

"His very look, so fierce, might fright the boldest foe. His
savage glance, and the swarthy hue of his Spanish countenance,
his flashing eyes..."

I also just found a reference to Ewen in Herman Melville's The Confidence-Man! The UVA Electronic Text Center has the footnote, just scroll down to Chapter 25 to see the excerpt, an "eye like Lochiel's."