Macleod
said was such, that if the foot was in proportion, it must have been
twenty-seven inches long. Dr. Johnson would not look at the bones. He
started back from them with a striking appearance of horrour[502]. Mr.
M'Queen told us it was formerly much the custom, in these isles, to have
human bones lying above ground, especially in the windows of churches.
On the south of the chapel is the family burying-place. Above the door,
on the east end of it, is a small bust or image of the Virgin Mary,
carved upon a stone which makes part of the wall. There is no church
upon the island. It is annexed to one of the parishes of Sky; and the
minister comes and preaches either in Rasay's house, or some other
house, on certain Sundays. I could not but value the family seat more,
for having even the ruins of a chapel close to it. There was something
comfortable in the thought of being so near a piece of consecrated
ground.[503] Dr. Johnson said, 'I look with reverence upon every place
that has been set apart for religion;' and he kept off his hat while he
was within the walls of the chapel[504].
The eight crosses, which Martin mentions as pyramids for deceased
ladies, stood in a semicircular line, which contained within it the
chapel. They marked out the boundaries of the sacred territory within
which an asylum was to be had.
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