I was thinking the same thing about his walking stick. Too short to be a cromach, and the size of the head is a little small for that too. Probably just a regular length cane.

It also appears that he's wearing a sgian dubh, which had just started to make its appearance as an accessory around this time. I don't recall seeing any in the MacLeay portraits, anyway. So his dress seems to come from that transition period. What do you figure as the year of this photo? I'd guess 1880s, but could be wrong.