A beautifully carved powder horn with a detailed Celtic design. Powder horns were generally made from horn and used to store gunpowder. This particular object is of great importance as by tradition it belonged to the Gaelic poet, Alasdair MacMhaighstir Alasdair (1700 – 1780). Alasdair lived in Moidart, was the Clan Ranald Bard, and wrote pro-Jacobite poetry. He was among the first to enlist in the 1745 Rising, joining the cause when the Standard was raised at Glenfinnan. He served as a Captain in Clan Ranald’s Regiment throughout the conflict and became Prince Charles Edward Stuart’s (1720 - 1788) Gaelic tutor. He fought at the Battle of Culloden and after the failure of the Rising he went into hiding with his family until 1747.