Could a curse dog successive generations of the Macarthy chiefs? Elspeth Macarthy, dying at the Clearances, said it would. Or would not a strain of insanity, imagination and coincidence provide a more rational solution?
Either way, or both, down the years the harsh heritage travels, till the last of the Macarthy Neills and his strange wild daughter face their destiny.
How Jonathan Maitland, shooting-tenant on the Macarthy lands, becomes involved, against his better judgment, and follows fate to its conclusion amongst the empty glens of the Scottish Highlands, makes a delightful story.