the fiery cross of the Scottish Highlanders, was a kind of military signal for collecting the distant and scattered clansmen to the standard of their chief. The ancient crantara was a fire-brand or stick burnt at the end, and dipped in the blood of a goat; and this symbol was sent to the nearest hamlet by a fleet messenger, who delivered it without uttering a word but the name of the place of rendezvous. The crantara, which was understood to denote destruction by fire and sword to all who refused to obey the summons, was passed with great rapidity from place to place, so that in a little time the chief found himself surrounded by all his faithful adherents, ready to obey his commands. The crantara in Gaelic was called Crean Tarigh, which literally denotes "the cross of shame"—because disobedience to what the symbol implied inferred infamy.

This mode of collecting a scattered people together on any emergency is of great antiquity. It is described by Olaus Magnus as a custom of the ancient Scandinavians; and from them the Highlanders appear to have borrowed it. (Gent. Sept. Hist. Breviarium, v. 3.)

The last time that the crean tarigh was circulated in Scotland was during the Rebellion of 1745; and on one occasion it passed through the district of Breadalbane, a distance of 32 miles, in the short space of three hours. Scott, in the Lady of the Lake, canto iii., has introduced the use of the crantara with much effect.