His habits of life wrought a kind of wildness in him which set him apart from the thrifty, steady-going people among whom he lived.

True, the shanty-men were his stanch friends and admirers, but then the shanty-men, though well-doing, could hardly be called steady, except the boss of the Macdonald gang, Macdonald Bhain, who was a regular attendant and stanch supporter of the church, and indeed had been spoken of for an elder.

But from the church Macdonald Dubh held aloof.

He belonged distinctly to the "careless," though he could not be called irreligious.

He had all the reverence for "the Word of God, and the Sabbath day, and the church" that characterized his people.