The Project Gutenberg eBook of Origins of the 'Forty-five

This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Origins of the 'Forty-five

and other papers relating to that rising

Editor: Walter Biggar Blaikie

Release date: October 1, 2023 [eBook #71772]

Language: English

Original publication: Edinburgh: Printed at the University press by T. and A. Constable for the Scottish History Society

Credits: MWS, Krista Zaleski and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ORIGINS OF THE 'FORTY-FIVE ***

PUBLICATIONS

OF THE

SCOTTISH HISTORY SOCIETY

SECOND SERIES

VOL.
II


ORIGINS OF THE ’FORTY-FIVE

March 1916


ORIGINS OF THE ’FORTY-FIVE

AND OTHER PAPERS RELATING TO THAT RISING

Edited by
WALTER BIGGAR BLAIKIE
LL.D.

EDINBURGH

Printed at the University Press by T. and A. Constable for the Scottish History Society

1916


[Pg v]

PREFACE

I desire to express my thanks to the Government of the French Republic for permission to make transcripts and to print selections from State Papers preserved in the National Archives in Paris; to the Earl of Ancaster for permission to print the Drummond Castle Manuscript of Captain Daniel’s Progress; to the Earl of Galloway for Cardinal York’s Memorial to the Pope; to His Grace the Archbishop of St. Andrews for the use of papers elucidating the action of the Roman Catholic clergy in 1745; to Miss Grosett-Collins, who kindly lent me Grossett family papers; to Mrs. G. E. Forbes and Mr. Archibald Trotter of Colinton for private papers of the Lumisden family; to M. le Commandant Jean Colin of the French Army (author of Louis XV. et les Jacobites) for several valuable communications, and to Martin Haile for similar help.

To my cousin, Miss H. Tayler, joint author of The Book of the Duffs, I am indebted for transcripts of papers in the French Archives in Paris as well as for information from Duff family papers; to Miss Maria Lansdale for the transcript of the report of the Marquis d’Eguilles to Louis XV.; to Dr. W. A. Macnaughton, Stonehaven, for copies of the depositions referring to the evasion of Sir James Steuart; and to Miss Nairne, Salisbury, for the translation of Cardinal York’s Memorial.

I have also to acknowledge general help from the Hon. Evan Charteris; Mr. William Mackay, Inverness; Mr. J. K. Stewart, secretary of the Stewart Society; Mr. J. R. N. Macphail, K.C.; Mr. J. M. Bulloch, author of[Pg vi] The House of Gordon; Dr. Watson, Professor of Celtic History, Edinburgh; Mr. P. J. Anderson, Aberdeen University Library; Colonel Lachlan Forbes; the Rev. Archibald Macdonald of Kiltarlity; and the Rev. W. C. Flint of Fort Augustus.

I should be ungrateful if I did not make acknowledgment of the information I have received and made use of from five modern books—James Francis Edward, by Martin Haile; The King Over the Water, by A. Shield and Andrew Lang; The Jacobite Peerage, by the Marquis de Ruvigny; The History of Clan Gregor, by Miss Murray Macgregor; and The Clan Donald, by A. and A. Macdonald.

Lastly, I have to thank Mr. W. Forbes Gray for kindly reading and revising proofs and for other assistance; and Mr. Alex. Mill, who has most carefully prepared the Index and given me constant help in many ways.

W. B. B.

Colinton, March 1, 1916.


CORRIGENDA

Page xxxix, lines 3 and 14, for ‘Excellency’ read ‘Eminence.’

Page 18, note 3, for see Appendix’ read ‘see Introduction, p. xxiii.’ [Transcriber’s note: found in footnote 140]

Page 47, note 1, for ‘John Butler’ read ‘John Boyle.’ [Transcriber’s note: found in footnote 180]

Page 113, note 3, last line, for ‘1745’ read ‘1746.’ [Transcriber’s note: found in footnote 323]


SCOTTISH HISTORY SOCIETY

The Editor of ‘ORIGINS OF THE FORTY-FIVE’ requests members to make the following corrections:—

Page xviii, line 20, ‘September 3rd’ should be ‘September 1st.’

Page xxv, line 25, the age of Glenbucket should be ‘sixty-four,’ and at page lxi, line 6, his age should be ‘seventy-two.’

In a letter in the Stuart Papers (Windsor), from Glenbucket to Edgar, dated St. Ouen, 21 Aug. 1747, he states his age to be seventy-four.

Page 97, line 22 of note, ‘Clan Donald iii, 37,’ should be ‘iii, 337.’ [Transcriber’s note: found in footnote 301]

Page 164, note 1 [Transcriber’s note: found in footnote 388], and again in Genealogical Table, page 422, ‘Abercromby of Fettercairn’ should be ‘of Fetterneir.’

June 4, 1917.


[Pg vii]

CONTENTS

PAGE
INTRODUCTION ix
Papers of John Murray of Broughton xlix
Memorial concerning the Highlands liii
The late Rebellion in Ross and Sutherland lv
The Rebellion in Aberdeen and Banff lvii
Captain Daniel’s Progress lxiv
Prince Charles’s Wanderings in the Hebrides lxx
Narrative of Ludovick Grant of Grant lxxiii
Rev. John Grant and the Grants of Sheugly lxxvi
Grossett’s Memorial and Accounts lxxviii
The Battles of Preston, Falkirk, and Culloden lxxxiv
Papers of John Murray of Broughton found after Culloden 3
Memorial Concerning the Highlands, written by Alexander Macbean, A.M., Minister of Inverness 71
An Account of the Late Rebellion from Ross and Sutherland, written by Daniel Munro, Minister of Tain 95
Memoirs of the Rebellion in 1745 and 1746, so far as it Concerned the Counties of Aberdeen and Banff 113
A True Account of Mr. John Daniel’s Progress with Prince Charles Edward in the Years 1745 and 1746, written by himself 167
Neil Maceachain’s Narrative of the Wanderings of Prince Charles in the Hebrides 227[Pg viii]
A Short Narrative of the Conduct of Ludovick Grant of Grant during the Rebellion 269
The Case of the Rev. John Grant, Minister of Urquhart; and of Alexander Grant of Sheugly in Urquhart, and James Grant, his Son 313
A Narrative of Sundry Services performed, together with an Account of Money disposed in the Service of Government during the late Rebellion, by Walter Grossett 335
Letters and Orders from the Correspondence of Walter Grossett 379
A Short Account of the Battles of Preston, Falkirk, and Culloden, by Andrew Lumisden, then Private Secretary to Prince Charles 405
APPENDICES—
I. The Jacobite Lord Sempill 421
II. Murray and the Bishopric of Edinburgh 422
III. Sir James Steuart 423
IV. The Guildhall Relief Fund 429
V. Cardinal York’s Memorial to the Pope 434
VI. The Macdonalds 449
VII. Tables showing Kinship of Highland Chiefs 451
VIII. Lists of Highland Gentlemen who took part in the ’Forty-five 454
INDEX 459

[Pg ix]

INTRODUCTION

James Francis Edward, King James III. and VIII. of the Jacobites, the Old Pretender of his enemies, and the Chevalier de St. George of historians, was born at St. James’s Palace on 10th June 1688. On the landing of William of Orange and the outbreak of the Revolution, the young Prince and his mother were sent to France, arriving at Calais on 11th December (O.S.);[1] the King left England a fortnight later and landed at Ambleteuse on Christmas Day (O.S.). The château of St. Germain-en-Laye near Paris was assigned as a residence for the royal exiles, and this château was the home of the Chevalier de St. George for twenty-four years.

James II. and VII. died on 5th September 1701 (16th Sept. N.S.), and immediately on his death Louis XIV. acknowledged his son as king, and promised to further his interests to the best of his power.

The Scots Plot, 1703.[2]

The first opportunity of putting the altruistic intention of the King of France into operation occurred within a year of King James’s death, and the evil genius of the project was Simon Fraser, the notorious Lord Lovat.

Lovat, whose scandalous conduct had shocked the[Pg x] people of Scotland, was outlawed by the courts for a criminal outrage, and fled to France in the summer of 1702. There, in spite of the character he bore, he so ingratiated himself with the papal nuncio that he obtained a private audience with Louis XIV., an honour unprecedented for a foreigner. To him he unfolded a scheme for a Stuart Restoration. He had, he said, before leaving Scotland visited the principal chiefs of the Highland clans and a great number of the lords of the Lowlands along with the Earl Marischal. They were ready to take up arms and hazard their lives and fortunes for the Stuart cause, and had given him a commission to represent them in France. The foundation of his scheme was to rely on the Highlanders. They were the only inhabitants of Great Britain who had retained the habit of the use of arms, and they were ready to act at once. Lord Middleton and the Lowland Jacobites sneered at them as mere banditti and cattle-stealers, but Lovat knew that they, with an instinctive love of fighting, were capable of being formed into efficient and very hardy soldiers. He proposed that the King of France should furnish a force of 5000 French soldiers, 100,000 crowns in money, and arms and equipment for 20,000 men. The main body of troops would land at Dundee where it would be near the central Highlands, and a detachment would be sent to western Invernessshire, with the object of capturing Fort William, which overawed the western clans. The design was an excellent one, and was approved by King Louis. But before putting it into execution the ministry sent Lovat back to obtain further information, and with him they sent John Murray, a naturalised Frenchman, brother of the laird of Abercairney, who was to check Lovat’s reports.

It is characteristic of the state of the exiled Court, that it was rent with discord, and that Lord Middleton, Jacobite Secretary of State, who hated Lovat, privately[Pg xi] sent emissaries of his own to spy on him and to blight his prospects.

Lovat duly arrived in Scotland, but the history of his mission is pitiful and humiliating. He betrayed the project to the Duke of Queensberry, Queen Anne’s High Commissioner to the Scots Estates, and, by falsely suggesting the treason of Queensberry’s political enemies, the Dukes of Hamilton and Atholl, befooled that functionary into granting him a safe conduct to protect him from arrest for outlawry.

When Lovat returned to France he was arrested under a lettre de cachet and confined a close prisoner for many years, some records say in the Bastille, but Lovat himself says at Angoulême.

The whole affair had little effect in Scotland beyond compassing the disgrace of Queensberry and his temporary loss of office, but it had lasting influence in France and reacted on all future projects of Jacobite action. For, first, it instilled into the French king and his ministers the suspicious feeling that Jacobite adventurers were not entirely to be trusted. And second, Lovat’s account of the fighting quality of the Highlanders and of their devotion to the Stuarts so impressed itself on both the French Court and that of St. Germains that they felt that in the Highlands of Scotland they would ever find a point d’appui for a rising. Lovat’s report, in fact, identified the Highlanders with Jacobitism.

The French Descent, 1708.[3]

Scotland was the scene of the next design for a restoration, and the principal agent of the French Court was a certain Colonel Nathaniel Hooke. Hooke had been sent[Pg xii] to Scotland in the year 1705, to see if that country was in such a state as to afford a reasonable prospect of an expedition in favour of the exiled Stuart. In the year 1707, while the Union was being forced upon an unwilling population, and discontent was rife throughout the country on account of that unpopular measure, Hooke was again sent, and although not entirely satisfied with all he saw and heard, he returned with favourable accounts on the whole. Among other documents he brought with him was a Memorial of certain Scottish lords to the Chevalier, in which, among other things, it was stated that if James, under the protection of His Most Christian Majesty (Louis XIV.), would come and put himself at the head of his people in Scotland, ‘the whole nation will rise upon the arrival of its King, who will become master of Scotland without any opposition, and the present Government will be intirely abolished.’ It was some months before the French king gave any answer. St. Simon in his Memoires says that Louis XIV. was so disheartened by his previous failure that he would not at first listen to the suggestion of a French expedition; and it was only through the efforts of Madame de Maintenon that he was persuaded to sanction an invading force. Even then much time was wasted, and it was not until the spring of 1708 that a squadron was equipped under the command of the Admiral de Forbin, and a small army under the Comte de Gasse. Even when ready to sail, the constant and proverbial ill-luck of the Stuarts overtook the poor Chevalier. He caught measles, which still further delayed the expedition. By this time, naturally, the[Pg xiii] British Government had learned all about the scheme, and made their naval preparations accordingly. At last, on the 17th March, James, hardly convalescent, wrapped in blankets, was carried on board the flagship at Dunkirk. The squadron was to have proceeded to the Firth of Forth and to have landed the Chevalier at Leith, where his partisans were prepared to proclaim him king at Edinburgh. Possibly because of bad seamanship, possibly because of treachery,[4] the French admiral missed the Firth of Forth, and found himself off Montrose. He turned, and could proceed no nearer Edinburgh than the Isle of May, off which he anchored. There the British Fleet, which had followed him in close pursuit, discovered him. The admiral weighed anchor, and fought a naval action in which he lost one of his ships. He then retreated towards the north of Scotland. James implored to be set ashore even if it were only in a small boat by himself, but his solicitations were in vain. The admiral positively refused, saying that he had received instructions from the French king to be as careful of the Chevalier as if he were Louis himself; so Forbin carried him back to Dunkirk, where the heart-broken exile was landed on the 6th of April, having been absent only twenty days, and having lost one of the most likely opportunities that ever occurred for his restoration to his ancient kingdom of Scotland, if not to England.

Expulsion from France, 1713.

After his return to France the Chevalier joined the French army. In 1708 he fought at Oudenarde and Lille, and the following year at Malplaquet. His gallant conduct won golden opinions from Marlborough and his troops. The[Pg xiv] British soldiers drank his health. James visited their outposts and they cheered him. What Thackeray puts into the mouth of a British officer well describes the situation: ‘If that young gentleman would but ride over to our camp, instead of Villars’s, toss up his hat and say, “Here am I, the King, who’ll follow me?” by the Lord the whole army would rise and carry him home again, and beat Villars, and take Paris by the way.’[5] But James stayed with the French, and the war ended with the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. This treaty gave the crown of Spain to the Bourbons, Gibraltar and the slave-trade to the British, and pronounced the expulsion of the Stuarts from France. A new asylum was found for the Chevalier in Lorraine, which, though an independent duchy, was largely under the domination of France. The Chevalier’s residence was fixed at Bar-le-Duc, and there he went in February 1713.

In August 1714, on the death of Queen Anne, James made a trip to Paris to be ready for action should his presence be required, but the French Government sent him back to Bar-le-Duc. The death of Louis XIV. on 1st September 1715 (N.S.) was the next blow the Jacobite cause sustained. The government of France passed to the Duke of Orleans as Regent, and his policy was friendship with the British Government.

The Fifteen.[6]

Then came the Rising of 1715, which began at Braemar on 6th September, followed by the English rising in Northumberland under Forster. The movement in England was crushed at Preston on 13th November, the same day that the indecisive battle was fought at Sheriffmuir in Perthshire.

[Pg xv]

Lord Mar made Perth his headquarters, and invited James to join the Scottish army. The Chevalier, who had moved to Paris in October, in strict secrecy, and in disguise, being watched by both French and English agents, managed, after many remarkable adventures, checks, and disappointments, to get away from Dunkirk on 16th December (27th N.S.), and to reach Peterhead on the 22nd. Thence he went to Perth, where he established his Court at the ancient royal palace of Scone. He was proclaimed king and exercised regal functions; some authorities say that he was crowned.[7] But James had come too late; mutual disappointment was the result. He had been assured that the whole kingdom was on his side, but he found only dissension and discontent. His constant melancholy depressed his followers. No decisive action was taken; the project had failed even before he arrived, and Lord Mar persuaded him that he would serve the cause best by retiring and waiting for a happier occasion.

James was forced to leave Scotland on 5th February 1716 (O.S.). He landed at Gravelines on 10th February (21st N.S.), went secretly to Paris, and concealed himself for a week in the Bois de Boulogne. Thence he went to Lorraine, where he was sorrowfully told by the Duke that he could no longer give him shelter. The power of Britain was great; no country that gave the exile a home could avoid a quarrel with that nation. The Pope seemed to be the only possible host, and James made his way to Avignon, then papal territory. But even Avignon was too near home for the British Government, which, through the French regent, brought pressure to[Pg xvi] bear on the Pope; the Chevalier was forced to leave Avignon in February 1717, and to cross the Alps into Italy. Here for some months he wandered without a home, but in July 1717 he settled at Urbino in the Papal States.

Marriage to Clementina, 1719.[8]

For a time the cares of the Jacobite Court were centred on finding a wife of royal rank for the throneless king. After various unsuccessful proposals, the Chevalier became engaged to the Princess Clementina Sobieska, whose grandfather had been the warrior King of Poland. The Sobieski home was then at Ollau in Silesia; and in October 1718 James sent Colonel Hay to fetch his bride. The British Government determined to stop the marriage if possible. Pressure was put on the Emperor, who had Clementina arrested at Innsbruck while on her journey to Italy. Here the Princess remained a prisoner until the following April. The story of her rescue by Colonel Wogan is one of the romances of history, and has recently been the theme of an historical romance.[9] Wogan brought the princess safely to Bologna, and there she was married by proxy to James on 9th May 1719. While Wogan was executing his bridal mission, the Chevalier, who had almost given up hope of the marriage, had been called away to take his part in a project which seemed to augur a chance of success.

The Swedish Plot, 1716-17.

On the collapse of the rising of 1715, the Jacobite Court, despairing of assistance from France or Spain, had turned for aid to Charles XII. of Sweden. Charles had conceived a violent hatred for George I., who had acquired by purchase[Pg xvii] from the King of Denmark two secular bishoprics which had been taken from Sweden by the Danes, and which had been incorporated in the electorate of Hanover. As early as 1715 Charles listened to a project of the Duke of Berwick, by which he should send a force of Swedish troops to Scotland, but he was then too busy fighting the Danes to engage in the scheme. In 1717 the Jacobites renewed negotiations with Sweden, and a plan was formed for a general rising in England simultaneously with an invasion of Scotland by the Swedish king in person at the head of an army of 12,000 Swedes. The plot came to the knowledge of the British Government in time; the Swedish ambassador in London was arrested; the project came to nothing; but in the following year a more promising scheme for a Stuart restoration was formed.

The Spanish Expedition of 1719.[10]

Spain, smarting under the loss of her Italian possessions, ceded to Austria by the Peace of Utrecht, had declared war on the Emperor and had actually landed an army in Sicily. In compliance with treaty obligations, Great Britain had to defend the Emperor, and in August 1718 a British squadron engaged and destroyed a Spanish fleet off Cape Passaro. Alberoni, the Spanish minister, was furious and determined on reprisals. He entered into an alliance with the Swedish king; a plan for invading Great Britain was formed, and negotiations were opened with the Jacobite Court. The death of Charles XII. in December detached Sweden from the scheme, but Alberoni went on with his preparations. A great armada under Ormonde was to carry a Spanish army to the west of England, and a subsidiary expedition under the Earl Marischal was to land in north-western Scotland. The[Pg xviii] Chevalier was summoned to Spain to join the expedition, or failing that to follow it to England. The fleet sailed from Cadiz in March 1719. James had left Rome in February, travelling by sea to Catalonia and thence to Madrid and on to Corunna. He reached the latter port on 17th April, only to learn of the dispersal of the Spanish fleet by a storm and the complete collapse of the adventure.

The auxiliary Scottish expedition, unconscious of the disaster, landed in the north-western Highlands; but after some vicissitudes and much dissension the attempt ended with the Battle of Glenshiel on the 10th of June—the Chevalier’s thirty-first birthday—and the surrender next day of the remainder of the Spanish troops, originally three hundred and seven in number.

James returned from Corunna to Madrid, where he lingered for some time, a not very welcome guest. There he learned of the rescue of Princess Clementina and of his marriage by proxy. Returning to Italy in August, he met Clementina at Montefiascone, where he was married in person on September 1st, 1719.

From this time forward until the end of his life, forty-seven years later, the Chevalier’s home was in Rome, where the Pope assigned him the Muti Palace as a residence, along with a country house at Albano, some thirteen miles from Rome.

Birth of Charles Edward, 1720.

In 1720, on December 20th by British reckoning (Dec. 31st by the Gregorian calendar), Prince Charles Edward was born at Rome, and with the birth of an heir to the royal line, Jacobite hopes and activities revived.

The Atterbury Plot, 1721-22.[11]

At this time the Jacobite interests in England were in charge of a Council of five members, frequently termed ‘the Junta.’ The members of this Council were the Earl of Arran, brother of Ormonde, the Earl of Orrery, Lord[Pg xix] North, Lord Gower, and Francis Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester. Of these Atterbury was by far the ablest, and in England was the life and soul of Jacobite contriving. A great scheme was devised, which is known in history as the Atterbury Plot. The details are somewhat obscure, and the unravelling of them is complicated by the existence of another scheme contemporaneous with Atterbury’s, apparently at first independent, but which became merged in the larger design. The author of this plot was Christopher Layer, a barrister of the Middle Temple. Generally, his scheme was secretly to enlist broken and discharged soldiers. They were to seize the Tower, the Bank, and the Mint, and to secure the Hanoverian royal family, who were to be deported. The larger scheme of the Junta was to obtain a foreign force of 5000 troops to be landed in England under the Duke of Ormonde, and risings were to be organised in different parts of the kingdom. The signal for the outbreak was to be the departure of George I. for Hanover, which was expected to take place in the summer.

Layer, who does not seem to have been acting with Atterbury and the Junta until later, was in Rome in the early months of 1721, and there he unfolded his plan to the Jacobite Court. After he left, a plan of campaign was arranged which, however, seems to have been modified afterwards. The original intention was to begin the movement in Scotland, whither Lord Mar and General Dillon[12][Pg xx] were to proceed; and to accentuate the latter’s position as commander in Scotland he was created an earl in the Scottish peerage, although already an Irish (Jacobite) viscount. Lord Lansdowne was to command in Cornwall, Lord Strafford in the north, Lord North in London and Westminster, and Lord Arran was to go to Ireland. The Chevalier was to leave Rome when Mar and Dillon left Paris, and to make his way to Rotterdam via Frankfort, and there await events before deciding where it would be best to land. Things seemed to be prospering, but the English Jacobites did not sufficiently respond to the call for financial support. James, deeply disappointed, appealed to the Pope for help, only to be more bitterly mortified by his refusal. The Pope, in so many words, said that if the English Jacobites wanted a revolution they must pay for it themselves. The original orders for invasion were cancelled in April; but negotiations seem to have been continued with Spain through Cardinal Acquiviva, Spanish envoy at Rome, ever James’s friend. A revised plan of action was prepared. Wogan, who had been sent to Spain, had succeeded in procuring assistance from that country; ships had been prepared to carry a force of 5000 or 6000 men to Porto Longone, in the Isle of Elba, where James was to embark. In July, James was on the outlook for a Spanish fleet under Admiral Sorano.[13] But it was too late. The plot had been discovered, the demand for troops reaching the knowledge of the French ministers, who informed the British ambassador. Spain was compelled to prevent the embarkation, and King George did not go to Hanover that summer.

Mar had used the post office in spite of a warning by[Pg xxi] Atterbury not to do so; his correspondence was intercepted, and a letter was found which incriminated Atterbury and his associates. Government was not hasty in acting, and the first conspirator to be arrested was George Kelly, a Non-juring Irish clergyman who acted as Atterbury’s secretary. He was seized at his lodgings on May 21st; and he very nearly saved the situation. His papers and sword being placed in a window by his captors, Kelly managed during a moment of negligence to recover them. Holding his sword in his right hand he threatened to run through the first man who approached him, while all the time he held the incriminating papers to a candle with his left hand, and not till they were burned did he surrender. It was not until the end of August that Bishop Atterbury was taken into custody and committed to the Tower. His trial did not begin until the spring of the following year. Layer, who was betrayed by a mistress, was arrested in September and tried in November. He was condemned to death, but was respited from time to time in the hope that he would give evidence to incriminate Atterbury and his associates. Layer refused to reveal anything and was executed at Tyburn in May 1723, at the very time when the bishop’s trial was taking place in the House of Lords. Atterbury was found guilty: he was sentenced to be deprived of all his ecclesiastical benefices and functions, to be incapacitated from holding any civil offices, and to be banished from the kingdom for ever. His associates of the Junta escaped with comparatively light penalties. Kelly, sentenced to imprisonment during the King’s pleasure, was kept in the Tower until 1736, when he managed to escape, to reappear later in the drama. Atterbury went abroad and entered the Chevalier’s service. He died in exile at Paris in 1732, but he was buried in Westminster Abbey.

The failure of the schemes of Atterbury had a remarkable[Pg xxii] effect on the unfortunate Chevalier. Apparently weary of failure and longing for action, he wrote to the Pope on August 29th, 1722, offering to serve in a crusade against the Turks; but he was told it would not do, he must stick to his own task. To it he accordingly returned; and implicitly believing that his people were longing for his restoration, he issued a manifesto dated September 22nd, proposing ‘that if George I. will quietly deliver to him the throne of his fathers he will in return bestow upon George the title of king in his native dominions and invite all other states to confirm it.’[14] The manifesto was printed and circulated in England; it was ordered to be burned by the common hangman.

It is somewhat remarkable that although the Atterbury Expedition was to have been begun in Scotland, the records of the period make no mention of the project, nor do there seem to have been any preparations for a rising. The only suggestion of secret action being taken that I know of—and it is no more than a suggestion—is that in 1721, on the same day that General Dillon, who was to command in Scotland, was created a Scottish earl, a peerage was given to Sir James Grant of Grant by the Chevalier de St. George.[15] What the occasion of this honour may have been has never, so far as I know, been revealed.[16]

Affairs in Scotland.

Jacobite affairs in Scotland at that time were administered by a Lanarkshire laird, George Lockhart of Carnwath. Lockhart had been a member of the old Scots Estates[Pg xxiii] before the Union of the kingdoms in 1707, and after the Union he sat in the Imperial Parliament until 1715. In that year he raised a troop of horse for the Jacobite cause, and after the rising he suffered a long imprisonment, but was eventually released without trial. From 1718 to 1727 he acted as the Chevalier’s chief confidential agent in Scotland. His system of Jacobite management was by a body of trustees, which was organised in 1722, and acted as a committee of regency for the exiled king. In 1727 Lockhart’s correspondence fell into the hands of Government and he had to fly the country. He was permitted to return in the following year, but lived for the rest of his life in retirement, and took no further part in Jacobite affairs.[17]

For some years after Lockhart’s flight, Scotland seems to have been without any official representative of the Jacobite Court. In May 1736, however, Colonel James Urquhart[18] was appointed, though under circumstances which have not yet been made known.

The proposed expedition connected with the Atterbury Plot was the last project for an active campaign of[Pg xxiv] restoration in which the Chevalier was personally to embark. Scheming, of course, went on, but only once after this did James leave Italy. In 1727, on the death of George I., he hurried to Nancy to be ready for any emergency, but the Duke of Lorraine had reluctantly to refuse him hospitality. He retired to Avignon, but, as before, the British Government brought pressure to bear, and he had to go back to Rome. Six years later, on the death of Augustus the Strong, he was offered the elective throne of Poland; but this he declined, saying that his own country engaged his whole heart and all his inclinations, though he regretted that his second son, Henry, then eight years old, was too young to be a candidate for the crown worn by his Sobieski ancestor.

Charles Edward grows up.
The Cause languishes.

Meanwhile his elder son, Charles Edward, was growing up, and the hopes of the party were fixed on his future. His father wished him to learn the art of war, so in August 1734 he was sent to join a Spanish army under his cousin, the Duke of Berwick,[19] who was engaged in the campaign against Austria, which brought the crown of Naples to the Spanish Bourbons. Charles, then not quite fourteen, took part in the siege and capture of Gaeta, a fortress in Campania, and accompanied Don Carlos in his triumphant entry into Naples as king on August 9th. The Prince won much credit for his conduct in the field, but this was the end of his experience of war, and his campaign had lasted only six days. His father was anxious to extend his military education, but France and Spain in turn declined to allow him to serve with their armies. Even the Emperor, about to make war on the Turks in 1737, refused to allow the young prince to accompany his army. European potentates were unwilling to receive Charles[Pg xxv] Edward even as a visitor. The Venetian minister in London was ordered to quit England on twenty-four hours’ notice, because his Government had shown civilities to the Prince on a visit to Venice. The British Government was too vigilant to hoodwink, too strong to offend. Peace reigned throughout Europe: Jacobite activity was dormant both in England and in Scotland: the royal exiles were isolated at Rome, and it seemed as if all hope of a Stuart Restoration had been abandoned.

The Mission of Glenbucket.

The first to inspire the Jacobite Court with new life and hope, and set in motion the events which led up to the great adventure of ’Forty-five was John Gordon of Glenbucket. This remarkable man was no county magnate nor of any particular family. At this time he possessed no landed property; he was merely the tenant of a farm in Glenlivet, which he held from the Duke of Gordon. His designation ‘of Glenbucket’ was derived from a small property in the Don valley which had been purchased by his grandfather, and which he inherited from his father. He was not a Highlander, having been born in the Aberdeenshire lowland district of Strathbogie, but he had so thoroughly conformed himself to Highland spirit and manners that he had won the affection and confidence of the Highlanders of Banffshire and Strathspey. Glenbucket was at this time about sixty-four years old. In his younger days he had been factor or chamberlain to the Duke of Gordon, a position which conferred on him considerable influence and power, particularly over the Duke’s Highland vassals. In the ’Fifteen he had commanded a regiment of the Gordon retainers, and behaved with gallantry and discretion throughout the campaign.[20] About the year 1724 he had ceased[Pg xxvi] to be the Duke’s representative, but his connection with the Highlanders was continued by the marriages of his daughters. One of them was the wife of Forbes of Skellater, a considerable laird in the Highland district of Upper Strathdon; another was married to the great chief of Glengarry; and a third to Macdonell of Lochgarry.[21]

In the year 1737 Gordon sold Glenbucket, for which he realised twelve thousand marks (about £700); and he left Scotland to visit the Chevalier at Rome. On his way he passed through Paris, where he had an interview with Cardinal Fleury, the French prime minister. To the Cardinal he suggested a scheme of invasion, by which officers and men of the Irish regiments in the French service quartered near the coast could be suddenly and secretly transported to Scotland.[22] The Cardinal, whose general policy was peace at any price,[23] gave no encouragement to the scheme.

Message to the English Jacobites.

Glenbucket went on to Rome in January 1738: he delivered his message, was rewarded with a major-general’s commission,[24] and returned to Scotland. Immediately the Jacobite Court was filled with sanguine activity. What the terms of Glenbucket’s mission were, or whom he represented, have never been categorically stated. Murray[Pg xxvii] of Broughton hints that he only represented his son-in-law Glengarry and General Alexander Gordon.[25] Even if this limitation were true, it meant much. Glengarry was one of the greatest of Highland chiefs, while General Gordon was that Nestor of Scottish Jacobites who had been commander-in-chief after the Chevalier left Scotland in 1716, and whose opinions must have carried much weight. Although there is no direct statement of the terms of Glenbucket’s mission, its significance can readily be understood from the communication made to the English Jacobites. The Chevalier at once wrote off to Cecil, his official agent in London, informing him of the encouraging news he had received. The zeal of his Scottish subjects, he said, was so strong that he considered it possible to oppose the Scottish Highlanders to the greater part of the troops of the British Government then available, and there was good cause to hope for success even without foreign assistance, provided the English Jacobites acted rightly.[26]

At the time that the Chevalier’s message reached his adherents there happened to be in England a personage who bore the name and designation of Lord Sempill.[27] Though of Scots descent he was French by birth and residence. He was not familiar with English ways, and he did not understand English political agitation. Mingling for the most part with Jacobites avowed or secret, his ears were filled with execration of the reigning dynasty. On every side he heard the Whig Government denounced,[Pg xxviii] and he saw it tottering and vacillating. He mistook general political dissatisfaction for revolutionary discontent, and he came to the conclusion that the country longed for a restoration of the old royal line. Constituting himself an envoy from the English Jacobites,[28] he hurried off to Rome and reported to the Chevalier that the party was stronger than was generally believed, and that affairs in England were most favourable for action.

It is necessary here to relate how Glenbucket’s mission to Rome affected the Scottish Jacobites, and to introduce into the narrative the name of one who for five years was a mainstay of the Cause, though in the end he turned traitor.

Murray of Broughton.

John Murray of Broughton, a younger son of Sir David Murray of Stanhope (a Peeblesshire baronet of ancient family who in his day had been an ardent Jacobite), entered the University of Leyden in 1735, being then twenty years of age. In 1737 he had completed his studies and went on a visit to Rome, where he mixed in the Jacobite society of the place. Although he never had an interview with James himself, he frequently met the young princes, and he acquired the friendship of James Edgar, the Chevalier’s faithful secretary. Murray’s father had once been proposed as an official Jacobite agent in Scotland, and it seems highly probable that Edgar persuaded the son to look forward to assuming such a position. Murray left Rome to return to Scotland shortly before Glenbucket’s arrival in January 1738.

The Concert of Scots Jacobites.

Glenbucket’s message had convinced James of the devotion of the Highlanders and the Jacobites of north-eastern Scotland, but he wished to know more of the spirit of the Scottish Lowlands. At the same time that he wrote to the English Jacobites, he despatched[Pg xxix] William Hay, a member of his household, to Scotland to make inquiries and to report. Hay overtook Murray who was lingering in Holland, and induced him to accompany him, as he was anxious to be introduced to Murray’s cousin, Lord Kenmure, an ardent Kirkcudbrightshire Jacobite. The acquaintance was duly made, and although no record is yet known of Hay’s actual transactions in Scotland, they can be conjectured with a fair amount of certainty from the results which followed them in spite of Murray’s disparaging remarks on his mission.[29] Hay visited the leading Jacobites, and it is difficult to doubt that he set in motion a scheme for concerted action. What is known is that he returned to Rome after three months’ absence greatly satisfied with what he had found. In the same year, presumably as the outcome of Hay’s mission, an Association of Jacobite leaders was formed, sometimes termed ‘the Concert,’ designed with the object of bringing together Highland chiefs and lowland nobles,[30] pledged to do everything in their power for the restoration of the exiled Stuarts. These Associators, as they were called, were: the Duke of Perth; his uncle, Lord John Drummond; Lord Lovat; Lord Linton, who in 1741 succeeded as fifth Earl of Traquair; his brother, the Hon. John Stuart; Donald Cameron, younger of Lochiel; and his father-in-law, Sir John Campbell of Auchenbreck, an Argyllshire laird. The position of manager was given to William Macgregor (or Drummond), the son of the Perthshire laird of Balhaldies.[31] In contemporary[Pg xxx] documents Macgregor[32] is generally termed ‘Balhaldy,’[33] and that designation has been used in this volume. Murray of Broughton did not belong to the Association, nor was he taken into its confidence until 1741. He, however, attached himself to Colonel Urquhart, the official Jacobite agent, and assisted him with his work. In 1740, when Urquhart was dying of cancer, Murray was appointed to succeed him.

In December 1739 Balhaldy was sent by the Associators to Paris, and from thence he went on to Rome. The Chevalier, greatly cheered by what he had to tell, instructed him to return to Paris and there to meet Sempill, who had become one of James’s most trusted agents. Sempill would introduce him to Cardinal Fleury, before whom they would lay the views of both the English and Scottish Jacobites.

Balhaldy returned to Paris, made the acquaintance of Sempill, an acquaintance which subsequently ripened into a strong political, perhaps personal, friendship. The interview with Fleury was obtained, and negotiations commenced in the beginning of 1740, about three months after the war with Spain, forced upon Walpole, had broken out.[34]

[Pg xxxi]

It is no part of my task to follow the intricacies of the negotiations between the French Ministry and the English Jacobites, except when they affect the affairs of the Scots, but here it is necessary to turn back for a moment to relate what took place after the English Jacobites received the Chevalier’s communication of Glenbucket’s message from Scotland.

English reception of Scots Proposals.

Sempill, who had gone from England to Rome in the spring of 1738, was sent back in October with the Chevalier’s instructions to his English adherents to arrange for concerted action with the Scots. The English Jacobites formed a council of six members to serve as a directing nucleus. This council communicated the English views on the Scottish proposal to the Chevalier as follows. Although the Government, they said, had only 29,000 regular troops in the British Isles, of which 13,000 were in England, 12,000 in Ireland, and 4000 in Scotland, yet the rising of the Scots could not take place, as the King hoped, without foreign assistance. It would be a difficult matter to provide the Scots with sufficient arms and munitions, and even if this difficulty could be surmounted, it would take two months after they had been supplied before their army could assemble and establish the royal authority in Scotland; that it would take another month before the Scots could march into England. Meantime the English leaders would be at the mercy of the professional army of the Government which their volunteer followers, entirely ignorant of discipline, could never oppose alone. The principal royalists would be arrested in detail, and their overawed followers would hold back from joining the Scots. There were 13,000 regular soldiers in England. Government would probably transfer 6000 from Ireland, and the army would be further augmented by the importation of Dutch and Hanoverian troops. Probably 8000 men would be sent to the frontier[Pg xxxii] of Scotland. From this they concluded that a rising in Scotland without foreign assistance would involve possible failure and in any case a disastrous civil war, while, on the other hand, the landing of a body of regular troops would provide a rallying point for the insurgents. This force should be equal to the number of troops generally quartered about London and able to hold them, while the volunteer royalists would march straight to the capital which was ready to declare in their favour. They would then acquire the magazines and arsenals at the seat of government, and almost all the treasures of England (‘presque toutes les richesses d’Angleterre’). If at that juncture the Scots would rise, the Hanoverians would be driven to despair. No ally of the Elector, however powerful, would venture to attack Great Britain reunited under her legitimate sovereign. The requirement of the English would be 10,000 to 12,000 regular troops sent from abroad; without such a disciplined force the English Jacobites would not risk a rising.[35]

Sempill was sent by the Chevalier to Paris to lay these views before Cardinal Fleury. The Cardinal, peace lover though he was, felt that it would be absurd to neglect the assistance that the Jacobites might afford him in the complications which were certain to arise when the death of the Emperor Charles VI., then imminent, should occur.[36] When the English views of requirement were presented to him he received them sympathetically; said that the King of France would willingly grant the help the English Jacobites desired, but two things were absolutely necessary: he must have more exact information than had been given him with regard to what royalist adherents[Pg xxxiii] would join his troops on landing, and also as to those who would rise at the same time in the provinces. If the English leaders could satisfy His Majesty on these two points they might expect all they asked for.[37]

Balhaldy’s interview with Fleury.

Such was the state of Jacobite affairs at the French Court when Sempill introduced Balhaldy to Fleury. I know of no categorical statement of the requirements that Balhaldy was to lay before the Cardinal, but from a memorandum he wrote[38] it may be inferred that the Associators had asked for 1500 men with arms, ammunition, and money. Fleury replied that his sovereign was greatly pleased with the proposals of the Scots, and that he approved of their arrangements on behalf of their legitimate king. France, however, was at peace with Great Britain, while Spain was at open war. King Louis would ask the Spanish Court to undertake an expedition in favour of King James to which he would give efficient support.[39] Shortly afterwards, the Cardinal was obliged to tell Balhaldy that Spain declined to entertain the proposal. The Spanish Court disliked the war with England, and was quite aware that it had been forced on Walpole by the Jacobites and the Opposition.[40] Spain was not going to embarrass the British Government by embarking on a Jacobite adventure.

Fleury then made a proposal that the Spanish Government should finance a scheme by which an army of 10,000 Swedish mercenaries should be engaged to invade Great Britain. While secret negotiation was going on between the French and Spanish Governments, knowledge[Pg xxxiv] of the proposal came to Elizabeth Farnese, Queen of Spain. Elizabeth, fearing that a successful movement for a Stuart restoration would put an end to the war with Great Britain which she strongly favoured, inspired a paragraph in the Amsterdam Gazette, which exploded the design before it could be accomplished.[41]

Driven at last from his hope of using Spain as a catspaw, Fleury informed Balhaldy that his master the King, touched with the zeal of the Scots, would willingly send them all the Irish troops in his service, with the arms, munitions, and the £20,000 asked for to assist the Highlanders.[42]

Balhaldy hurried back to Scotland with this promise and met the Associators in Edinburgh. Although the Jacobite leaders were disappointed that French troops were not to be sent, they gratefully accepted Fleury’s assurances, and in March 1741 they despatched the following letter to the Cardinal, which was carried back to Paris by Balhaldy.

Lettre de quelques Seigneurs écossais au Cardinal de Fleury.[43]

Monseigneur,—Ayant appris de Monsieur le baron de Balhaldies l’heureux succès des représentations que nous l’avions chargé de faire à Votre Eminence sous le bon plaisir de notre souverain légitime, nous nous hâtons de renvoyer ce baron avec les témoignages de notre vive et respectueuse reconnaissance et avec les assurances les plus solennelles, tant de notre part que de la part de ceux qui se sont engagés avec nous à prendre les armes pour secouer le joug de l’usurpation, que nous sommes prêts à remplir fidèlement tout ce qui a été[Pg xxxv] avancé dans le mémoire que my lord Sempill et ledit sieur baron de Balhaldies eurent l’honneur de remettre, signé de leurs mains, entre celles de Votre Eminence au mois de mai dernier.

Les chefs de nos tribus des montagnes dont les noms lui ont été remis en même temps avec le nombre d’hommes que chacun d’eux s’est obligé de fournir,[44] persistent inviolablement dans leurs engagements et nous osons répondre à Votre Eminence qu’il y aura vingt mille hommes sur pied pour le service de notre véritable et unique seigneur, le Roi Jacques Huitième d’Ecosse aussitôt qu’il plaira à S.M.T.C. de nous envoyer des armes et des munitions avec les troupes qui sont nécessaires pour conserver ces armes jusqu’à ce que nous puissions nous assembler.

Ces vingt mille hommes pourront si facilement chasser ou détruire les troupes que le gouvernement présent entretient actuellement dans notre pays et même toutes celles qu’on y pourra faire marcher sur les premières alarmes que nous sommes assurément bien fondés d’espérer qu’avec l’assistance divine et sous les auspices du Roi Très Chrétien les fidèles Ecossais seront en état, non seulement de rétablir en très peu de temps l’autorité de leur Roi Légitime dans tout son royaume d’Ecosse et de l’y affermir contre les efforts des partisans d’Hannover, mais aussi de l’aider puissamment au recouvrement de ces autres Etats, ce qui sera d’autant plus facile que nos voisins de l’Angleterre ne sont pas moins fatigués que nous de la tyrannie odieuse sous laquelle nous gémissons tous également et que nous savons qu’ils sont très bien disposés à s’unir avec nous ou avec quelque puissance que ce soit qui voudra leur donner les recours dont ils out besoin pour se remettre sous un gouvernement légitime et naturel. Nous prenons actuellement des mesures pour agir de concert avec eux.

Quant au secours qui est nécessaire pour l’Ecosse en particulier, nous aurions souhaité que S.M.T.C. eût bien voulu nous accorder des troupes françaises qui eussent renouvelé parmi nous les leçons d’une valeur héroïque et d’une fidélité incorruptible que nos ancêtres ont tant de fois apprises dans la France même; mais puisque V.E. juge à propos de nous envoyer de sujets de notre Roi, nous les recevrons avec joie comme venant de sa part, et nous tâcherons de leur faire sentir[Pg xxxvi] le cas que nous faisons et de leur attachement à notre souverain légitime et de l’honneur qu’ils out acquis en marchant si longtemps sur les traces des meilleurs sujets et des plus braves troupes en l’Univers.

Monsieur le baron de Balhaldies connaît si parfaitement notre situation, les opérations que nous avons concertées, et tout ce qui nous regarde, qu’il serait inutile d’entrer ici dans aucun détail. Nous supplions V.E. de vouloir bien l’écouter favorablement et d’être persuadée qu’il aura l’honneur de lui tout rapporter dans la plus exacte vérité.

Si les ministres du gouvernement étaient moins jaloux de nos démarches ou moins vigilants, nous engagerions volontiers tous nos biens pour fournir aux frais de cette expédition; mais nuls contrats n’étant valables, suivant nos usages, sans être inscrits sur les registres publics, il nous est impossible de lever une somme tant soit peu considérable avec le secret qui convient dans les circonstances présentes. C’est uniquement cette considération qui nous empêche de faire un fond pour les dépenses nécessaires, [ce qui serait une preuve ultérieure que nous donnerions avec joie de notre zèle et de la confiance avec laquelle nous nous rangeons sous l’étendard de notre Roi naturel; mais le bien du service nous oblige de nous contenir et] d’avoir recours à la générosité de S.M.T.C. jusqu’à ce que l’on puisse lever les droits royaux dans notre pays d’une manière régulière.

Nous sommes persuadés que l’on pourra y parvenir dans l’espace de trois mois après l’arrivée des troupes irlandaises et nous ne doutons point que notre patrie, réunie alors sous le gouvernement de son Roi tant désiré ne fasse des efforts qui donneront lieu à V.E. de prouver à S.M.T.C. que les Ecossais modernes sont les vrais descendants de ceux qui ont eu l’honneur d’être comptés pendant tant de siècles les plus fidèles alliés des Rois, ses prédécesseurs.

Nous sommes bien sensiblement touchés des mouvements que V.E. s’est donnés et qu’elle veut bien continuer pour faire entendre au Roi Catholique les avantages qu’il y aurait à agir en faveur du Roi notre maître dans la conjoncture présente. Nous avions cru que ces avantages ne pouvaient échapper aux ministres Espagnols; mais quelque travers qu’ils prennent dans la conduite de cette guerre, V.E. prend une part qui ne saura manquer de les en tirer heureusement et de frustrer l’attente injuste des nations qui sont prêtes à fondre sur les trésors du nouveau monde.

[Pg xxxvii]

Nous en louons Dieu, Monseigneur, et nous le prions avec ferveur de vouloir bien conserver V.E. non seulement pour l’accomplissement du grand ouvrage que nous allons entreprendre sous sa protection mais aussi pour en voir les grands et heureux effets dans toute l’Europe aussi bien que dans les trois royaumes britanniques, auxquels son nom ne sera pas moins précieux dans tous les temps à venir qu’à la France même qui a pris de si beaux accroissements sous son ministère et dont la gloire va être élevée jusqu’au comble en faisant vigorer la justice chez ses voisins. Nous avons l’honneur d’être avec une profonde vénération et un parfait dévouement, Monseigneur, de votre Eminence, les très humbles et très obéissants serviteurs,

à Edimbourg, ce 13ème Mars 1741.

[Translation.]

Having learned from the Baron of Balhaldies of the happy success of the representations that we had instructed him to make to Your Eminence, with the approval of our legitimate Sovereign, we now hasten to send this Baron back with the proofs of our lively and respectful gratitude, and with the most solemn undertaking, both by ourselves and by those who are engaged along with us, to take up arms to throw off the yoke of the usurpation, that we are ready to fulfil faithfully all that was put forward in the Memorial, which my lord Sempill and the said Baron of Balhaldies signed with their own hands, and had the honour to place in the hands of Your Eminence last May.

The chiefs of our Highland clans, whose names we have sent at the same time with the number of men that each binds himself to furnish, will without fail keep their engagements, and we venture to be responsible to Your Eminence that there will be 20,000 men on foot for the service of our true and only lord, King James VIII. of Scotland, as soon as it will please His Most Christian Majesty to send us arms and munitions, and the troops that are necessary to guard those arms until we shall be able to assemble.

These 20,000 men will be able so easily to defeat or to destroy the troops that the Government employs at present in our country, and even all those that it may be able to despatch upon the first alarm, so[Pg xxxviii] that we feel entirely justified in hoping that with divine assistance and under the auspices of the most Christian King, the loyal Scots will be in a condition, not only in a short time to re-establish the authority of their legitimate King throughout the whole Kingdom of Scotland, and to sustain him there against the efforts of the partisans of Hanover, but also to aid powerfully in the recovery of these other States, which will be all the easier since our neighbours of England are not less wearied than we are of the odious tyranny under which we all equally groan; and we know that they are thoroughly determined to unite with us, and with any power whatever that would give them the opportunity they require to place themselves once more under a legitimate and natural Government. We are at present taking measures to act along with them.

As to the assistance that is necessary for Scotland in particular, we should have preferred that His Most Christian Majesty might have been willing to grant us French troops, who would have renewed among us the lessons of heroic bravery and incorruptible fidelity, that our ancestors have so often learned in France itself, but since Your Eminence thinks fit to send subjects of our King, we will receive them with joy as coming from him, and we will endeavour to make them feel the value that we attach to their devotion to our legitimate Sovereign, and the honour that they have acquired in treading so long in the footsteps of the best subjects and of the bravest troops in the Universe.

The Baron of Balhaldies knows so perfectly our situation, the plans that we have concerted, and everything that affects us, that it will be unnecessary to enter into any detail. We implore Your Eminence to listen to him favourably, and to be assured that he will have the honour of reporting to you with the utmost accuracy.

If the ministers of the Government were only less suspicious of our actions or less watchful, we would willingly pledge all our belongings to defray the cost of this expedition, but as no contracts (of loan or sale) are binding by our customs unless they have been inscribed in the public registers, it is not possible for us to raise a sum that would be sufficient, with the necessary secrecy that present circumstances require. It is this consideration alone that prevents us from raising a fund for the necessary expense, the raising of which would bear further proof of our zeal, which we should give with pleasure, and of the confidence with which we place ourselves under the standard of our natural King; but the good of the service obliges us to restrain our wishes and to have recourse to the generosity of His Most Christian Majesty until it is possible to establish the royal rights in our country in a regular manner.

We are persuaded that it would be possible to accomplish this three months after the arrival of the Irish troops, and we do not doubt that our country, reunited under the Government of its king, so much desired, would make such efforts as would enable Your Excellency to prove to His Most Christian Majesty that the modern Scots are the true[Pg xxxix] descendants of those who have had the honour of being counted during so many centuries the most faithful allies of the kings, his predecessors.

We are very sensibly touched by what Your Eminence has done, and will continue to do, to make the Catholic king understand the advantages that he would have in acting in favour of the King our master in the present juncture. We had believed that these advantages could not escape the notice of the Spanish Ministers, but whatever strange things they may have done in the conduct of this war, your Eminence is now acting in such a way as cannot fail happily to extricate them from the consequences of their mistakes, and to frustrate the unjust attitude of those nations who are ready to fall upon the treasures of the new world.

We praise God, Monseigneur, and we pray with fervour that He would preserve Your Eminence, not only for the accomplishment of the great work which we are going to undertake under your protection, but also that you may see the great and happy effects throughout Europe as well as in the three kingdoms of Britain in which your name will be not less precious in all time to come than in France itself, which has been enlarged so remarkably under your ministry; and that the glory of your name will be raised to the highest pitch by making justice flourish among your neighbours. We have the Honour to be, with profound veneration and perfect devotion, Monseigneur, Your Eminence’s very humble and obedient servants.

The promises of assistance from the French Court brought by Balhaldy, and the letter of acceptance by the lords of the Concert constituted the treaty between France and the Scottish Jacobites which formed the foundation of all subsequent schemes undertaken in Scotland. Even in the end it was detachments of the Irish regiments, whose use was originally suggested by Glenbucket, together with a Scottish regiment raised later than this by Lord John Drummond, that formed the meagre support that was actually sent over from France in 1745.

Balhaldy returned to France almost immediately, and in the winter of 1740-41, he went to England where he met the Jacobite leaders, of whom he particularly mentions the Earls of Orrery and Barrymore, Sir Watkin Williams Wynne, and Sir John Hinde Cotton. With them he endeavoured to form a scheme of concert between the[Pg xl] English and the Scottish Jacobites, but without much success.[45]

Murray taken into the confidence of the Concert.

It was not until after the signing of the letter to Fleury that Murray was taken into the confidence of the Jacobite leaders, and it was at this time that he first met Lord Lovat. This was also the occasion of his first meeting with Balhaldy; their relations at this time were quite friendly; Balhaldy handed over to Murray the negotiation of a delicate ecclesiastical matter with which he had been entrusted by the Chevalier.[46]

Another early duty was to raise money for the Cause, but to Murray’s mortification, he had to give up the scheme of a loan, because all the sympathisers to whom he applied declined to subscribe; not, they said, because they objected to giving their money, but each and all refused to be the first to compromise himself by heading the subscription list. At this time Murray was not permitted to undertake any active propaganda for a rising, as the associated leaders feared that by increasing the numbers in the secret there would be too great danger of leakage. The Associators preferred to keep such work in their own hands, and each of them had a district assigned to him.

After Balhaldy’s departure the unfortunate Associators were kept in a state of agonising suspense, for nothing was heard from France until the end of 1742. In December of that year, Lord Traquair received a letter from Balhaldy couched in vague terms, assuring him that troops and all things necessary for a rising would be embarked early in the spring. The scheme, he wrote, was to make a landing near Aberdeen and another in Kintyre. The whole tone of the letter was so confident that the Associators[Pg xli] felt that a French expedition might be expected almost immediately, and they were profoundly conscious that Scotland was not ready. So alarmed were the leaders at the possibility of a premature landing, and so uncertain were they about the promises vaguely conveyed in Balhaldy’s letter, that they determined to send Murray over to Paris to find out what the actual French promises were, and how they were to be performed; and moreover to warn the Government of King Louis how matters stood in Scotland.

Murray set off in January 1743. On his way he visited the Duke of Perth, then residing at York, making what friends he could among the English Jacobites. When Murray got to London, he was informed of Cardinal Fleury’s death,[47] which somewhat staggered him, but he determined to go on to France to find out how matters stood.

Murray’s visit to Paris, 1743.

On arriving in Paris, Murray met Balhaldy and Sempill. Balhaldy was surprised and not particularly glad to see him, but he treated him courteously, and discussing affairs with Murray, he patronisingly informed him that he had not been told everything. Sempill was very polite. He told Murray that a scheme had been prepared by Fleury, but that the Cardinal’s illness and death had interrupted it.[48] Sempill also told him that luckily he had persuaded the Cardinal to impart his schemes to Monsieur Amelot, the Minister for Foreign Affairs. An interview with the Minister was obtained at Versailles, and on Murray’s explaining the reason of his visit, Amelot frankly told him[Pg xlii] that the King of France had full confidence in the Scots, but that nothing could be done without co-operation with the English. He further warned the Scotsmen that an enterprise such as they proposed was dangerous and precarious. The King, he said, was quite willing to send ten thousand troops to help James his master, but the Jacobites must take care not to bring ruin on the Cause by a rash attempt. Murray was startled at Amelot’s answer after the assurances he had had from Sempill and Balhaldy of the minister’s keenness to help; he was further distressed that some arrangements, which Sempill had confidently mentioned to him as being made, were unknown to Amelot, while the minister owned that he had not read the Memorials, but promised to look into them.

It was on this occasion that Murray first became suspicious of the behaviour of Balhaldy and Sempill, a state of mind which grew later to absolute frenzy. When arranging for the interview with Amelot, they hinted very plainly to Murray that he must exaggerate any accounts he gave of preparations in Scotland. He came to the conclusion that they were deceiving the French minister by overstating Jacobite prospects at home, and after the interview he was further persuaded that Balhaldy and Sempill were similarly deceiving the Jacobite leaders with exaggerated accounts of French promises. He was further mortified to find that the Earl Marischal, who was much respected in Scotland, and to whom the Jacobite Scotsmen looked as their leader in any rising, would have nothing to do with Sempill and Balhaldy; while, on their part, they described the earl as a wrong-headed man, continually setting himself in opposition to his master and those employed by him, and applied to him the epithet of ‘honourable fool.’

Apparently about this time the preparations of the English Jacobites were languishing, and Balhaldy, proud[Pg xliii] of the Scottish Association which he looked upon as his own creation, volunteered to go over to England and arrange a similar Concert among the English leaders. He and Murray went to London together, and there Murray took the opportunity of privately seeing Cecil, the Jacobite agent for England. Cecil explained his difficulties, told him of the dissensions among the English Jacobites, and of their complaints about Sempill, who, he considered, was being imposed upon by the French Ministry. It is characteristic of Jacobite plotting to find that Murray concealed, on the one side, his interviews with Cecil from Balhaldy, and, on the other, he kept it a secret from Cecil that he had ever been in France.[49] Disappointed with his mission both in France and England, Murray returned to Edinburgh in March or April.

Butler’s mission to England.

Meanwhile, Balhaldy was busy getting pledges in England and making lists of Jacobite adherents avowed and secret. Though they said they were willing to rise, he found they absolutely refused to give any pledge in writing, and he suggested, through Sempill, that the French minister should send over a man he could trust to see the state of matters for himself. Amelot selected an equerry of King Louis’s of the name of Butler, an Englishman by birth. Under pretence of purchasing horses, Butler visited racecourses in England, where he had the opportunity of meeting country gentlemen, and was astonished to find that at Lichfield, where he met three hundred lords and gentlemen, of whom, he said, the poorest possessed £3000 a year, he found only one who was not opposed to the Government. On his return to France, Butler sent in a long report on the possibilities of an English rising. He told the French Government that after going through part of England, a document had been placed in his hands giving an account of the whole country,[Pg xliv] from which it appeared that three-quarters of the well-to-do (‘qui avaient les biens-fonds’) were zealous adherents of their legitimate king, and that he had been enabled to verify this statement through men who could be trusted, some of whom indeed were partisans of the Government. He was amazed that the Government was able to exist at all where it was so generally hated. The secret, he said, was that all positions of authority—the army, the navy, the revenue offices—were in the hands of their mercenary partisans. The English noblesse were untrained to war, and a very small body of regular soldiers could easily crush large numbers of men unused to discipline. It would be necessary then to have a force of regular troops from abroad to make head against those of the Government.

French determine on an Invasion.
Letter of Louis XV. to Philip V.

Butler and Balhaldy returned to France in October. During their absence things had changed; the battle of Dettingen had been fought (June 27th, 1743), although Great Britain and France were technically at peace. King Louis was furious, and he took the matter up personally, and gave instructions to prepare an expeditionary force for the invasion of England. The main body was to consist of sixteen battalions of infantry and one regiment of dismounted dragoons, under Marshal Saxe, and was to land in the Thames. It was further suggested that two or three battalions should be sent to Scotland. Prince Charles Edward was invited to accompany the expedition, and was secretly brought from Rome, arriving in Paris at the end of January 1744. There was no affectation of altruism for the Stuart exile in King Louis’s mind, but the zeal of the Jacobites was to be exploited. He wrote his private views to his uncle, the King of Spain, communicating a project that he had formed, he said, in great secrecy, which was to destroy at one blow the foundations of the league of the enemies of the House of Bourbon. It might, perhaps, be hazardous, but from all that he could learn it[Pg xlv] was likely to be successful. He wished to act in concert with Spain. He sent a plan of campaign. Everything was ready for execution, and he proposed to begin the expedition on the 1st of January. It would be a very good thing that the British minister should see that the barrier of the sea did not entirely protect England from French enterprise.[50] It might be that the revolution to be promoted by the expedition would not be so quick as was expected, but in any case there would be a civil war which would necessitate the recall of the English troops in the Netherlands. The Courts of Vienna and Turin would no longer receive English subsidies, and these Courts, left to their own resources, would submit to terms provided they were not too rigorous.[51]

Collapse of French Expedition.

The story of the collapse of the proposed invasion is too well known to need description. Ten thousand troops were on board ship. Marshal Saxe and Prince Charles were ready to embark. On the night of the 6th of March a terrible storm arose which lasted some days. The protecting men-of-war were dispersed, many of the transports were sunk, a British fleet appeared in the Channel, and Saxe was ordered to tell the Prince first that the enterprise was postponed, and later that it was abandoned. Charles, nearly broken-hearted, remained on in France, living in great privacy, and hoping against hope that the French would renew their preparations. For a time he remained at Gravelines, where Lord Marischal was with him. He longed for action, and implored the earl to urge the French to renew the expedition to England, but Marischal only suggested difficulties. Charles proposed an expedition to Scotland, but his lordship said it would mean destruction. Then he desired to make a campaign with the French army, but Lord Marischal said it would only disgust the English.[Pg xlvi] Charles removed to Montmartre, near Paris, but he was ordered to maintain the strictest incognito. He asked to see King Louis, but he was refused any audience. His old tutor, Sir Thomas Sheridan, was sent from Rome to be with him; also George Kelly, Atterbury’s old secretary, who, since his escape from the Tower, had been living at Avignon. He took as his confessor a Cordelier friar of the name Kelly, a relative of the Protestant George Kelly, and, sad to say, a sorry drunkard, whose example did Charles no good. These Irish companions soon quarrelled with Balhaldy and Sempill, who wrote to the Chevalier complaining of their evil influence, while the Irishmen also wrote denouncing Balhaldy and Sempill.

Charles left Montmartre. His cousin, the Bishop of Soissons, son of the Marshal Duke of Berwick, kindly lent him his Château Fitzjames, a house seven posts from Paris on the Calais road, where he remained for a time. Another cousin, the Duke of Bouillon, a nephew of his mother, also was very kind, and entertained him at Navarre, a château near Evreux in Normandy. But his life was full of weary days. He could get nothing from the French, and ‘our friends in England,’ he wrote to his father, are ‘afraid of their own shadow, and think of little else than of diverting themselves.’ Things seemed very hopeless: the Scots alone remained faithful.

Suspense in Scotland.

From the time that Murray left London in the spring of 1743, the Jacobite Associators had received no letters from Balhaldy. The suspense was very trying; indeed Lord Lovat felt for a time so hopeless that he proposed to retire with his son to France and end his days in a religious house.[52] Lovat’s spirits seem to have risen shortly after this owing to some success he had in persuading his neighbours to join the Cause, and he eventually resolved to remain in Scotland. It was only from the newspapers[Pg xlvii] the Jacobite leaders knew of the French preparations, but towards the end of December a letter was received from Balhaldy, which stated that the descent was to take place in the month of January. Other letters, however, threw some doubt on Lord Marischal’s part of the enterprise, which included an auxiliary landing in Scotland, and once more the Jacobite leaders were thrown into a state of suspense. They felt, however, that preparations must be made, and an active propaganda began among the Stuart adherents.

Murray’s interview with Prince Charles, August 1744.

In due course news of the disaster to the French fleet reached Scotland, but no word came from Balhaldy or Sempill, and it was then determined to send John Murray to France to find out the state of matters. Murray tells the story of his mission in his Memorials. He met Prince Charles at Paris on several occasions, and told him that so far from there being 20,000 Highlanders ready to rise, as was the boast of Balhaldy, it would be unwise to depend on more than 4000, if so many. But in spite of this discouraging information, the Prince categorically informed Murray that whatever happened he was determined to go to Scotland the following summer, though with a single footman.[53]

Murray hastened home, and at once began an active canvass among the Jacobites; money and arms were collected, and arrangements were made in various parts of the country. Among other expedients was the establishment of Jacobite clubs, and the celebrated ‘Buck Club’ was founded in Edinburgh. The members of these clubs were not at one among themselves. Some of them said they were prepared to join Prince Charles whatever happened, but others only undertook to join if he were accompanied by a French expedition. At a meeting of the Club a document was drawn up by Murray representing[Pg xlviii] the views of the majority present, which insisted that unless the Prince could bring them 6000 regular troops, arms for 10,000 more, and 30,000 louis d’or, it would mean ruin to himself, to the Cause, and to his supporters.[54] This letter was handed to Lord Traquair, who undertook to take it to London and have it sent to Prince Charles in France. By Traquair it was delayed, possibly because he was busy paying court to the lady who about this time became Countess of Traquair,[55] but to the expectant Jacobites for no apparent reason save apathy. After keeping the letter for four months he returned it in April 1745, with the statement that he had been unable to find a proper messenger. Another letter was then sent by young Glengarry, who was about to proceed to France to join the Scottish regiment raised by Lord John Drummond for service in the French army. It was, however, too late; the Prince had left Paris before the letter could be delivered.

Distressed that the King of France would not admit him to his presence; wearied with the shuffling of the English Jacobites and the French ministers; depressed by Lord Marischal, who chilled his adventurous aspirations; plagued, as he tells his father, with the tracasseries of his own people, Charles determined to trust himself to the loyalty of the Scottish Highlanders. He ran heavily into debt; he purchased 40,000 livres’ worth of weapons and munitions,—muskets, broadswords, and twenty small field-pieces; he hired and fitted out two vessels. With 4000 louis d’or in his cassette he embarked with seven followers at Nantes on June 22nd (O.S.).

On July 25th he landed in Arisaig,—the ’Forty-five had begun.

[Pg xlix]

PAPERS OF JOHN MURRAY OF BROUGHTON

These papers, picked up after Culloden, are fragmentary and are not easy reading without a knowledge of their general historical setting, and this I have endeavoured to give in brief outline in the preceding pages. They are particularly interesting as throwing glimpses of light on the origins of the last Jacobite rising. They were written before the collapse of that rising and before Murray, after the great betrayal, had become a social outcast. Murray’s Memorials, edited for the Scottish History Society by the late Mr. Fitzroy Bell, were written thirteen years after Culloden as a history and a vindication. These papers may be considered as memoranda or records of the business Murray had been transacting, and they view the situation from a different angle.

Some of the events mentioned in the Memorials are told with fuller detail in these papers; they also contain thirteen hitherto unpublished letters, consisting for the most part of a correspondence between Murray and the Chevalier de St. George and his secretary James Edgar. But to my mind the chief interest of the papers lies in the fact that they present a clue to the origin of the Jacobite revival which led up to the ’Forty-five; that clue will be found in Murray’s note on page 25.

In 1901 the Headquarters Staff of the French Army issued a monograph based on French State Papers, giving in great detail the project for the invasion of Great Britain in 1744, and the negotiations which led up to it. The book is entitled Louis XV. et les Jacobites, the author being Captain Jean Colin of the French Staff. In his opening sentence Captain Colin tells how the Chevalier de St. George was living tranquilly in Rome, having abandoned all hope of a restoration, when about the end of 1737 he received a message from his subjects in Scotland informing him that the Scottish Highlanders[Pg l] would be able, successfully, to oppose the Government troops then in Scotland. In no English or Scottish history, so far as I am aware, has this message from Scotland been emphasised, but in the French records it is assumed as the starting-point of the movement on the part of the French Government to undertake an expedition in favour of the Stuarts. Murray refers to Glenbucket’s mission in the Memorials (p. 2), though very casually, and as if it were a matter of little moment, but the insistence in French State Papers of the importance of the Scottish message made it necessary to investigate the matter further.

The first step to discover was the date of the sale of the estate of Glenbucket, the price of which was probably required for the expenses of the mission, and it was found from Duff family papers, kindly communicated by the authors of The Book of the Duffs, that Glenbucket sold his estate to Lord Braco in 1737. The next step is told in the pages of James Francis Edward, where it is narrated that Glenbucket was in Paris about the end of that year, that he there presented to Cardinal Fleury a scheme for a rising in Scotland, which he proposed should be assisted by the Irish regiments in the service of Louis XV. The same work tells how Glenbucket went on to Rome in January 1738, and there conveyed to the Chevalier satisfactory assurances from the Highlands, but few from the Lowlands.[56] The result was that William Hay was sent to Scotland on the mission which eventuated in the ‘Concert’ of Jacobite leaders, Highland and Lowland, and Balhaldy’s subsequent mission to Paris and Rome.

It would be interesting to know who the Highlanders were who entrusted Glenbucket with the message to Rome. Murray, in his jealous, disparaging way, remarks that it could only be Glengarry and General Gordon, but[Pg li] either he did not know much about Glenbucket or he was prejudiced. In an account of the Highland clans preserved in the Public Record Office, and evidently prepared for the information of the Government after he had turned traitor, Murray writes: ‘I have heard Gordon of Glenbucket looked upon as a man of Consequence, whereas, in fact, he is quite the reverse. He is not liked by his own name, a man of no property nor natural following, of very mean understanding, with a vast deal of vanity.’[57] But this word-portrait does not correspond with that drawn by a writer who had better opportunities of knowing Glenbucket. The author of the Memoirs of the Rebellion in the Counties of Aberdeen and Banff particularly emphasises the affection he inspired in the Highlanders, and significantly adds:—

‘It is generally believed he was very serviceable to the court of Rome, in keeping up their correspondence with the Chiefs of the Clans, and was certainly ... of late years over at that court, when his Low Country friends believed him to be all the while in the Highlands.’[58]

It may be that Lovat was one of those Highlanders who joined in Glenbucket’s message. About this time he had been deprived of his sheriffship and of his independent company, and, furious against the Government, had almost openly avowed his Jacobitism. In 1736 he, as sheriff, had released the Jacobite agent John Roy Stewart from prison in Inverness and by him had despatched a message of devotion to the Chevalier,[59] but of his co-operation with Glenbucket I have found no hint. The sequence of events here narrated make it plain that whoever it was for whom he spoke, it was Gordon of Glenbucket whose initiative in 1737 originated the Jacobite revival which eventually brought Prince Charles to Scotland.

Analysis of the papers is unnecessary after the admirable introduction to the Memorials by Mr. Fitzroy[Pg lii] Bell, but it may interest readers of that work to refer to two letters mentioned in the Memorials. The first of these was a letter Murray says he wrote to the Chevalier giving an account of his interview with Cecil in London.[60] Mr. Bell searched the Stuart Papers at Windsor, but failed to find it. I think the letter printed on page 20 is the letter that was intended, though it is addressed not to James but to his secretary Edgar. The other letter mentioned in the Memorials was one to the Earl Marischal written about the same time. It was entrusted for delivery to Balhaldy and Traquair, but to Murray’s intense indignation they destroyed it. In the Memorials he expresses his regret that he has not a copy to insert. There is little doubt that the letter on page 27 of these papers is the draft of the letter referred to.

The account of the interview with Cecil (pp. 16, 21) makes pathetic reading. Murray, the Scottish official agent, fresh from seeing Balhaldy and Sempill, the official agents in Paris, is conscious that the latter are deceiving both the French Government and their own party. Murray conceals from Balhaldy that he is going to interview Cecil; from Cecil that he has been in Paris. Cecil, on the other hand, makes only a partial disclosure of his feelings in Murray’s presence. He is contemptuous of his Jacobite colleagues, the Duchess of Buckingham and her party, and he has not a good word to say of Sempill. Murray again ridicules Cecil, of whom he has a poor opinion.

How could a cause served by such agents ever prosper?

This copy of John Murray’s papers and the three following documents were found among some papers relating to the ’Forty-five collected by a gentleman of Midlothian shortly after the Rising. Many years ago I was permitted to copy them, and from these transcripts the text has been printed.

[Pg liii]

MEMORIAL CONCERNING THE HIGHLANDS

In 1898 the late Mr. Andrew Lang edited and published a manuscript from the King’s Library in the British Museum, which he entitled The Highlands of Scotland in 1750. Mr. Lang was unable to discover the author, but conjectured that it was written by Mr. Bruce, a Government agent employed to survey the Highland forfeited estates after the ’Forty-five. A close scrutiny of Mr. Lang’s volume along with the Memorial here printed has convinced me that they are the work of the same hand. Whoever wrote the manuscript in the King’s Library, the information contained therein came from the author of this ‘Memorial.’ The manuscript in the British Museum contains a good deal more than this Memorial, but the views advanced are generally the same, the sentiments are similar, and occasionally the phraseology is identical.

The manuscript from which the ‘Memorial Concerning the Highlands’ is printed is holograph of the Rev. Alexander Macbean, minister of Inverness at the time of the ’Forty-five. Macbean was well qualified to write on this subject. I have been unable to discover the place of his birth, but it may be conjectured that, if not actually born in the Macbean country, his family came from there, i.e. that part of Inverness-shire lying to the east of Loch Ness, of which The Mackintosh was feudal superior. The earliest information that can be gleaned from ecclesiastical records is that he received his degree of Master of Arts from the University of St. Andrews in 1702, and that he was employed as schoolmaster at Fort William from 1701 to 1709. That his salary was slender may well be believed, but its tenuity was aggravated by the fact that it was not paid regularly. We find that as late as 1717 the Commission of the General Assembly applied to the Treasury for arrears[Pg liv] due to Macbean, and was bluntly refused on the ground that the Treasury was not responsible for debts incurred before the Union of 1707.

Alexander Macbean went from the Western Highlands to Roxburghshire, where he became chaplain to Douglas of Cavers, and was licensed as a probationer by the Presbytery of Edinburgh in 1711. In the following year the right of presentation to the parish of Avoch in the Black Isle, Ross-shire, having fallen to the Presbytery of Chanonry, jure devoluto, Macbean was selected to fill the vacancy, and was ordained minister of the parish in June 1712. His appointment met with fierce opposition. His predecessor had been one of the pre-Revolution episcopal ministers who had retained his living, and the parishioners, for the most part episcopalians, resented his intrusion and fretted him with litigation. He became so unhappy that he obtained permission to resign his charge. In 1714 he was presented to the rural parish of Douglas in Lanarkshire, and there he remained for six years. In 1720 he was back in the Highlands as minister of the ‘third charge’ of Inverness; and in 1727 he was transferred to the ‘first charge’ of that important town, and there he remained until his death in 1762.

In Inverness he made his individuality strongly felt as champion for the Government. He was ‘the John Knox of the North,’ and one who exerted himself to suppress the spirit of rebellion in and about Inverness in the years 1745 and 1746.

On one occasion he nearly fell a victim to his interest in the struggle. Having gone with many others to the Muir of Culloden to witness the battle, one of the flying Highlanders attempted to cut him down with his broadsword, but the blow was warded off by a bystander.

Alexander Macbean was the father of a very distinguished son, Lieut.-General Forbes Macbean (1725-1800)[Pg lv] of the Royal Artillery. This officer was educated at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, was present at Fontenoy in 1745, and at Minden in 1759. At Minden he so distinguished himself that he was presented with a gratuity of five hundred crowns and a letter of thanks from the Commander-in-Chief, Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, written with his own hand. Forbes Macbean subsequently became Inspector-General of Portuguese Artillery, 1765-69; served in Canada 1769-73 and 1778-80; but his principal claim to the gratitude of posterity is a collection of manuscript notes recording the early history of the Royal Artillery.

Of Alexander Macbean’s ‘Memorial’ it is perhaps enough to say that it is, considering the times, fairly impartial, and corresponds on the whole with authentic information gleaned from other sources. I have taken the opportunity of supplementing, perhaps overloading, his text with notes detailing, so far as I have been able to discover them from various sources, the names of the principal Highland gentlemen who were concerned in the Rising of the ’Forty-five.

AN ACCOUNT OF THE LATE REBELLION FROM ROSS AND SUTHERLAND

The author of this narrative was Daniel Munro, minister of the parish of Tain. His origin was probably humble, as in Scott’s Fasti it is stated that owing to his knowledge of the Irish (i.e. Gaelic) language, he was educated on the Church’s charitable funds, and held a bursary from the Synod of Ross at Marischal College, and the University of Aberdeen. Munro was minister of the parish of Auldearn, near Nairn, from 1736 to April 1745, when he was translated to Tain, where he remained until his death in 1748. Of his life and work I have found little record.[Pg lvi] Andrew Henderson, the author of the Edinburgh History of the Rebellion, who knew this country well, says that he was ‘an uncouth man, a monster of impiety, wickedness, and ill nature.’ He further states that he was turned out of his church for ‘fighting and other immoralities.’[61]

This ‘Account’ is a very meagre one. The important fact in the history of Ross in the ’Forty-five was that the head of the house of Seaforth forsook the family tradition and took active part with the Government against the old royal family. It was a heavy blow to Prince Charles when Lord Macleod, eldest son of Lord Cromartie, who went to Glasgow to see the Prince in January 1746, informed him at supper that Seaforth had furnished two hundred men for the service of the Government. Charles turned to the French minister and gasped, ‘Hé, mon Dieu, et Seaforth est aussi contre moi!’

Kenneth Mackenzie, known as Lord Fortrose (which was really a Jacobite title), would have been the sixth Earl of Seaforth but for the attainder. His wife was Lady Mary Stewart, eldest daughter of the Earl of Galloway. She held Jacobite principles and raised many of her husband’s clan for the Prince, while most of Fortrose’s men eventually deserted to the Jacobites.

The principal operations in Ross and Sutherland began after Inverness had been taken by the Jacobite army. Lord Loudoun then retired to the shores of the Dornoch Firth. Lord Cromartie was sent in pursuit. Loudoun had boats, and when Cromartie approached him, he crossed the Firth to Dornoch. The Jacobites had to go round by the head of the Firth, whereupon Loudoun returned in his boats to the southern shore at Tain, and went back to Sutherland when Cromartie came to Ross. Cromartie was superseded by the Duke of Perth. Land operations seeming to be useless, a flotilla of boats was secretly collected[Pg lvii] at Findhorn and taken to Tain under shelter of a dense fog. On March 20th, 1746, Perth crossed over the Meikle Ferry, and completely defeated Loudoun at the bloodless battle of Dornoch. Lord Loudoun, along with Duncan Forbes, Sir Alexander Macdonald, Macleod of Macleod, fled to the Isle of Skye, while the chief of Mackintosh was taken prisoner.

On March 25th, the Hazard, a sloop of war which had been captured by the Jacobites at Montrose four months previously and sent to France, when returning with money, stores, and recruits, was forced to run ashore in the Kyle of Tongue by four men-of-war. Lord Reay, the Whig head of the Mackays, took possession of the wreck and its contents, including 156 prisoners and £12,000, the money being sorely needed by the army. Lord Cromartie and his son, Lord Macleod, were sent with a force of 1500 men to expostulate with Lord Reay, and if possible to recover the spoil. In this they naturally failed, but they continued the march as far as Thurso, beating up for recruits and levying the land cess upon the inhabitants.[62] On the way back, Cromartie and his son paid a visit to the Countess of Sutherland at Dunrobin. There, on the day before the battle of Culloden, they were made prisoners by the clever trick of a certain Ensign Mackay, while their followers, then at Golspie, were beaten and dispersed in an action sometimes called the battle of the Little Ferry.

MEMOIRS OF THE REBELLION IN THE COUNTIES OF ABERDEEN AND BANFF

This manuscript bears neither signature nor date, and gives no indication of authorship. There can, however, be little doubt that the author of the narrative was a[Pg lviii] minister belonging to Aberdeen or Banffshire, and that it was written at the same time as the two previous papers, about the end of 1746 or the beginning of 1747.

The story of the events of the Rising in the north-eastern counties is recounted with much fulness of detail, and with a minute knowledge of the country and the people. It is told, moreover, with marked fairness. Although the writer is a Whig, he speaks kindly of the Jacobite leaders, and he does not conceal the cruelties committed by the Government troops.

He tells the story of the skirmish of Inverurie in greater detail than is found elsewhere, and he gives picturesque touches in places that add to the interest of his narrative. Specially graphic is his account of Macleod’s famous piper, MacCrimmon, who was captured in that action.

The condition of parties in the north-eastern counties was not what it had been in the ’Fifteen. At that time the great lords of the counties had been Jacobite, whereas in 1745 most of the Aberdeenshire peers were supporters of the Government. None of them, however, took a prominent lead in the struggle. It is interesting to read the reasons given by the author of these Memoirs for the reticence of the Whig peers. The Duke of Gordon was prevented by indisposition. Lord Findlater’s sickly condition quite disabled him, and Lord Kintore’s incumbrances on his fortune were a drawback. Lord Forbes again had by no means an estate suited to his ability, while Lord Saltoun had no weight in the county. As for Lord Braco (afterwards Earl Fife), the newness of his family would have marred any project of his forming. The author considers, however, that something might have been expected of the Earl of Aberdeen.[63]

These explanations carry no conviction, and there can be little doubt that, in the beginning, these Aberdeenshire[Pg lix] lords were more or less sitting on the fence. Nor is this to be wondered at; family tradition and family connection would make them very chary of taking any prominent steps against the Jacobites. The Duke of Gordon, whose mother was a daughter of the Earl of Peterborough, had been brought up a Protestant and a Whig in defiance of the Catholic religion and Jacobite principles of his predecessors. Yet he must have had some sympathy with the family tradition. Early in September his father’s old factor, Gordon of Glenbucket, carried off horses and arms from Gordon Castle while the Duke was there, apparently with his connivance. Moreover, Sir Harry Innes of Innes in writing of this to his brother-in-law, Ludovick Grant, adds: ‘I am sory to tell yow that the Duke is quite wronge.’[64] By the end of November, however, he had pronounced for the Government. Lord Findlater was a Jacobite in the ’Fifteen, and had then been imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle. Lord Kintore’s father had fought at Sheriffmuir, and been deprived of his office of Knight-Marischal as a punishment. Lord Braco’s family was deeply concerned on the Jacobite side; his son-in-law, Sir William Gordon of Park, his brother-in-law, William Baird of Auchmedden, his nephew, a son of Duff of Hatton, were all ‘out,’ and his eldest son was only kept by force from joining the Jacobites.[65] Lord Aberdeen had only in March succeeded his father, who, it is known, had intended to join the Stuart cause.[66]

Lord Forbes, whose traditions were Whig, and whose father was Lord-Lieutenant of the county in 1715, might have acted, but his family connections were nearly all Jacobite. He was the brother-in-law of Lord Pitsligo and[Pg lx] Gordon of Park, while his three daughters were married to prominent Jacobites.[67]

Nor on the Jacobite side were there any noted personages. The two most prominent Jacobite leaders were Gordon of Glenbucket, a tenant farmer, and Lord Pitsligo. Though of small estate, Lord Pitsligo was universally respected for his high character and his personal piety. He knew his own mind and never faltered. He had been out in the ’Fifteen, and was sixty-seven years of age. In a letter to a friend, he confesses that what really troubled him was the fear of ridicule that a man of his age should take part in the adventure; but he thought, and weighed, and weighed again. His enthusiasm was of the coldest kind, but duty called him and he obeyed. His example influenced many Aberdeen and Banffshire lairds, and he gathered a considerable contingent of horse and foot. It is related that when he was ready to start to join the Prince, and had put himself at the head of his troop, he turned his face upwards and prayed aloud, ‘O Lord, Thou knowest that our cause is just,’ and then quietly gave the order to march.[68]

To understand these Memoirs fully, it is necessary to place them in their historical setting, and to give a brief outline of the military operations during the campaign.

On August 31st the corporation of Aberdeen, thoroughly alarmed at the news of the advance of Prince Charles, determined to put the city into a position of defence. Lists were made of all available citizens, who were embodied into a force of twelve companies of infantry and a detachment of artillery, while arms and ammunition were collected for their equipment. Sir John Cope, who had left Inverness on September 4th, reached Aberdeen on the 11th. Finding guns placed to defend the harbour and citizens fully armed, he commandeered both cannon[Pg lxi] and small arms, and carried them off, alleging that otherwise they might fall into the enemy’s hands. Cope left Aberdeen by sea for the Firth of Forth on September 15th, the city being left without any defence.

Meantime the Jacobites were not idle. Gordon of Glenbucket, now aged seventy-two, had been bed-ridden for three years, but he no sooner heard of the Prince’s arrival than he experienced ‘a kind of new life.’[69] Although bent nearly double on horseback, he hurried off to the West Highlands, and met Prince Charles at Kinlochmoidart on August 18th. He was back in Banffshire raising men by September 5th.[70] John Hamilton, the Duke of Gordon’s factor in Strathbogie, also quickly raised a contingent, and ten days after Cope’s departure, on September 25th, he marched into Aberdeen, where he proclaimed King James at the Cross, and perpetrated the somewhat ludicrous outrage on the provost and magistrates narrated on page 119. From that time until the last week in February, Aberdeen was under Jacobite government. Men were hurriedly collected; and on October 4th Glenbucket joined Prince Charles at Edinburgh with 400 men from Strathavon and Glenlivet, Hamilton also arrived in the city with 480 from Strathbogie and the Enzie. On the 9th Lord Pitsligo followed with 132 horse and 248 foot.

In the last week of October Lord Lewis Gordon, brother of the Duke of Gordon, a young naval officer who had joined the Prince in Edinburgh, was sent north as Lord-Lieutenant of the counties of Aberdeen and Banff. He found his task harder than he expected, being grossly thwarted by ‘the vile and malicious behaviour of the Prysbiterian ministers.’[71] Towards the end of November, to his intense surprise, his brother, the Duke, instructed his vassals to disregard Lord Lewis’s orders.[72] In spite of[Pg lxii] discouragement, Lord Lewis worked on. Moir of Lonmay was appointed deputy-governor of Aberdeenshire and Baird of Auchmedden of Banffshire. Three new regiments were raised under Moir of Stonywood (Lonmay’s brother), Gordon of Avochy (Glenbucket’s nephew), and Farquharson of Monaltrie, a cadet of Invercauld; rates and taxes were imposed and collected; and a good deal of hardship was inflicted on the lieges.

After the battle of Prestonpans (September 21st) Lord Loudoun, who there acted as Cope’s adjutant-general, had gone to London, where he received a commission to return to Inverness to command an army of Highlanders friendly to the Government, then being organised by Duncan Forbes of Culloden.

By December Loudoun was able to send an expedition under Munro of Culcairn and Macleod of Macleod to relieve Aberdeen. Lord Lewis Gordon, reinforced by some of the French troops of Lord John Drummond, which had landed in November at Stonehaven, Peterhead, and Montrose, met the invaders at Inverurie on December 23rd. He defeated Macleod completely, and forced him to retire across the Spey, thus freeing Aberdeen and Banff from all enemy troops.

Lord Lewis now collected all his available forces and marched to Stirling to join Prince Charles, who had returned from his English expedition; and by the first week in January 1746 Aberdeen was left without Jacobite troops. The battle of Falkirk was fought on January 17th, and on February 1st the army of Prince Charles began its retreat to the north. One column under Lord George Murray, taking the coast road, marched through Aberdeen and on to Elgin; another proceeded by Glenshee and Braemar, occupying for a time the northern districts of the county; the main body of the Highlanders went by Blair Atholl and Badenoch to Inverness. Two[Pg lxiii] small French contingents landed at Aberdeenshire ports on February 21st and 22nd, but on the 23rd the last of the Jacobite army had left the town of Aberdeen.

Meantime, Cumberland’s army was in full pursuit. It left Perth on February 20th, and the van reached Aberdeen on the 25th, the Duke himself following two days later. The Earl of Albemarle and General Bland, along with Brigadier Mordaunt, occupied Strathbogie, the Jacobites retiring before them. Lord John Drummond was entrusted with the defence of the passage of the Spey, but some troops were left under John Roy Stewart and Major Glascoe to carry on a guerrilla warfare. Glascoe, on March 20th, surprised a detachment of Campbell’s and Kingston’s horse at Keith, and captured nearly the whole garrison.

Hitherto the loyal inhabitants of Aberdeen had murmured at the excesses of the Jacobite troops, but their complaints were more bitter at the excesses of those of the Government.[73] Houses were plundered and burned, the chapels and meeting-houses of Roman Catholics and Episcopalian non-jurors were destroyed, and the inhabitants were more or less terrorised. In the General Order Book of the Duke of Cumberland, an instance is given of the kind of punishment that was meted out. There was a certain loyal schoolmaster in the parish of Glass, who, having learned that John Roy Stewart intended to spring a surprise similar to that at Keith, warned Lord Albemarle of the intention. This warning had the effect of keeping the Government troops on the watch for several nights. No attack was made on them, however, and the General, believing that the intelligence had been given for the purpose of harassing the troops by depriving them of sleep (although in reality he had been saved by the vigilance he had exercised as the result of the schoolmaster’s information), sent the unfortunate informer to[Pg lxiv] headquarters at Aberdeen. The punishment was very severe. In the Order Book, it is stated ‘that Peter Maconachy of Glass, convicted of spreading false intelligence in order to allarm our defence post, to be tied to a cart and whipped and drum’d through the cantoonments of Aberdeen, Old Meldrum, and Strathbogey, with a labell on his breast mentioning his crime. From Strathbogey he is to be turn’d out towards the rebells with orders never to come near where the army may be on pain of being hanged. The woman suspected of inveigling men to list in the French service is to be carried in the same cart.’[74] On April 8th, the Duke of Cumberland left Aberdeen, concentrated his army on Cullen, and crossed the Spey on the 12th, when Lord John Drummond retired before him. Four days later the battle of Culloden was fought.

CAPTAIN DANIEL’S PROGRESS WITH PRINCE CHARLES

This narrative, written by an English officer, who served in Lord Balmerino’s regiment, is occasionally referred to by modern historians of the Jacobite period, but has never been printed. Two manuscripts are known to exist. One, which belongs to an English gentleman, was shown to me by the late Mr. Andrew Lang. It is evidently contemporary, or nearly so, but the spelling is so eccentric that it is exceedingly difficult to read. The second manuscript is preserved at Drummond Castle, and is a certificated copy of the original, but it is written with modern spelling.[Pg lxv] Both were put at my disposal, but as there was nothing to show that the older version was Daniel’s holograph—indeed the evidence was against it—I preferred to use the Drummond Castle copy. The matter in both was practically identical. Of the writer nothing is known beyond what he tells of himself. Apparently he came from the Fylde country of Lancashire, the district between the Lune and the Ribble, and he was brought up in Jacobite principles.

The narrative is particularly interesting as giving the adventures of an English Jacobite. Daniel, stimulated by the call of conscience, had determined to embrace the cause. He had the good fortune to meet the Duke of Perth when the Prince’s army was near Preston on the march to Derby. The Duke invited him to join, offering him his friendship and patronage. Daniel accepted the offer, and he continued with the army until the end, when he escaped to France in the same ship as the Duke of Perth, whose death he witnessed on the voyage from Arisaig to France in the following May.

On joining, Daniel was attached to the first troop of Life Guards, of which Lord Elcho was colonel, but on the retreat from Derby he was transferred to the second troop of the same regiment, which was commanded by the Hon. Arthur Elphinstone, who about three weeks later succeeded his brother as sixth Lord Balmerino. Daniel conceived a great affection and admiration for his colonel, yet in his laudatory account he mentions a painful characteristic of the times. A gentleman, and a scholar who could recite pages from the Classics, Lord Balmerino was of a noble personage and had the courage of a lion. Moreover he never failed in his military duties. His ‘sole and predominant passion’ was for hard drinking. But for this weakness, ‘he would have shone with the same lustre in the army as he afterwards did on the scaffold.’

[Pg lxvi]

In the narrative there is no affectation of impartiality. Daniel is constantly comparing the iniquities of his enemies with the virtues of his friends. There is a curious incident mentioned by him when referring to the death of Sir Robert Munro of Foulis at the battle of Falkirk. He says (page 198), ‘among the slain were ... Sir Robert Munro, who was heard much to blaspheme during the engagement, and as a punishment for which, his tongue was miraculously cut asunder by a sword that struck him directly across the mouth.’ This is rather a startling statement concerning the end of one whom Dr. Doddridge has depicted as a type of the Christian soldier.[75] There seems, however, no necessity to doubt the truth of Daniel’s statement as representing the talk of the Highland camp; for it must be remembered that Sir Robert had served for many years with the army in Flanders whose strong language was proverbial. With the Highlanders on the other hand, profanity was not a common failing, and they may have been shocked at expletives which to an old campaigner were but unmeaning commonplaces of military expression.

Doddridge gives a certain amount of confirmation to Daniel’s story. He tells that when Sir Robert’s body was found the day after the battle, his face was so cut and mangled that it was hardly recognisable.

Daniel on joining the Jacobite army had been befriended by the Duke of Perth, and naturally he heartily disapproved of Lord George Murray. His dislike and distrust are shown frequently in his narrative. He tells, too, how his chief, Lord Balmerino, quarrelled with Lord George; how the hardships the cavalry endured in the campaign nearly drove the men to mutiny, the blame being thrown on the general. Such unreasoning accusations must have made Lord George’s life, hard as it was,[Pg lxvii] more difficult than it would have been had officers and men been really disciplined.

There is another charge which Daniel makes against Lord George Murray—a charge which raised much controversy amongst the Jacobites—namely, the responsibility for fighting the battle of Culloden.

Daniel says: ‘Contrary to the Prince’s inclination, Lord George Murray insisted on standing and fighting that day. The Prince, notwithstanding his great inclination to avoid fighting, was at last obliged to give way to the importunity of Lord George Murray, who even used terms very cutting in case of refusal.’ This attempt to fix the responsibility on Lord George is contrary to impartial evidence, as may be seen by careful examination of contemporary documents.[76] Lord George was against fighting, his scheme being to retire to the mountains, very much as proposed by the Marquis D’Eguilles. The Prince surely must have known this, yet we find that while hiding in South Uist he told Neil Maceachain that ‘he blamed always my Lord George as being the only instrument in loseing the battle, and altho’ that he, the morning before the action, used all his rhetorick, and eloquence against fighting, yet my Lord George outreasoned him, till at last he yielded for fear to raise a dissension among the army, all which he attributed to his infidelity, roguery, and treachery.’ One can only surmise that in his anger against Lord George Murray, the Prince’s recollection of what had actually happened had become confused, and, surrounded by flatterers even in his flight, he had brought himself to lay the responsibility on his Lieutenant-General.

The controversy, which long raged among the Jacobites,[Pg lxviii] may be set at rest once and for all from the report of the Marquis D’Eguilles to Louis XV. D’Eguilles was the accredited envoy of the King of France to the itinerant Court of Prince Charles Edward. On his return to France after a year’s confinement as a prisoner of war, he wrote an official report of his mission to the French king. It is a State document, preserved in the archives of the French Government, but apparently it has never been examined by any British historian. From the text of that document, an extract from which is here given, it will be seen that on the Prince, and the Prince alone, lay the responsibility of fighting the battle of Culloden.

French Envoy’s Official Report to Louis XV. on the Battle of Culloden

Le prince, qui se croyait invincible, parce qu’il n’avait pas encore été vaincu, défié par des ennemis qu’il méprisait trop, voyant à leur tête le fils du concurrent de son père, fier et haut comme il l’était, mal conseillé, peut-être trahi, oubliant en ce moment tout autre projet, ne put se résoudre à lui refuser un seul jour le combat. Je lui demandai un quart d’heure d’audience en particulier. Là, je me jetai en vain à ses pieds; je lui représentai en vain qu’il lui manquait encore la moitié de son armée, que la plupart de ceux qui étaient revenus n’avaient plus de boucliers, espèce d’armes défensives, sans les quelles ils ne sauraient combattre avec avantage; qu’ils étaient tous épuisés de fatigue, par une longue course faite la nuit précédente; que depuis deux jours plusieurs n’avaient pas mangé, faute de pain; qu’il fallait se réduire à défendre Inverness; qu’il serait même encore plus prudent de l’abandonner et de mettre entre les ennemis et nous la rivière, auprès de laquelle cette ville est batie; qu’au pis-aller nous entrerions dans les montagnes voisines; que c’était là qu’il serait véritablement invincible; que nous y resterions les maîtres de la partie de la côte où devait arriver le secours d’armes et d’argent que nous attendions; que dès que nous l’aurions reçu, nous marcherions vers l’Angleterre par cette même côte, ainsi qu’il avait été convenu; que plus les ennemis se seraient avancés vers nous, et plus il leur serait difficile en rebroussant chemin, d’arriver à Londres[Pg lxix] avant nous; que c’était la prise de cette grande ville qui devait faire son unique objet; que les succès qu’il pourrait avoir ailleurs n’auraient jamais rien de décisif, tandis que tout allait être perdu sans ressource dans une heure, s’il venait à être battu.

Enfin, le trouvant inébranlable dans la résolution prise de combattre à quelque prix que ce fût, je fis céder mon penchant à mon devoir. Je le quittai pour la première fois, je me retirai en hâte à Inverness, pour y brûler tous mes papiers, et y songer aux moyens de conserver à votre Majesté la partie de ses troupes qui ne périrait dans l’action.

Je vis avant la fin du jour le spectacle le plus frappant de la faiblesse humaine: le prince fut vaincu en un instant. Jamais déroute plus entière que la sienne.

TRANSLATION

The Prince who believed himself invincible because he had not yet been beaten, defied by enemies whom he thoroughly despised, seeing at their head the son of the rival of his father; proud and haughty as he was, badly advised, perhaps betrayed, forgetting at this moment every other object, could not bring himself to decline battle even for a single day. I requested a quarter of an hour’s private audience. There I threw myself in vain at his feet. In vain I represented to him that he was still without half his army; that the great part of those who had returned had no longer targets—a kind of defensive armour without which they were unable to fight with advantage; that they were all worn out with fatigue by a long march made on the previous night, and for two days many of them had not eaten at all for want of bread; that it was necessary to fall back to defend Inverness; that it would be even more prudent to abandon that town, and to place between the enemy and ourselves the river near which this town is built; that if the worst came to the worst, we might betake ourselves to the neighbouring mountains—there it was that he would be truly invincible; there we would remain masters of that part of the coast, at which supplies of arms and of money ought to be arriving, and as soon as these reached us, we should march towards England by that same coast as had already been arranged; that the more the enemy should advance towards us, the greater would be their difficulty to retrace their steps so as to get to London before us; the capture of that great city should be made his one object, for successes that he might achieve elsewhere would have no decisive value, while, in a single hour, all would be lost without hope of recovery if he should chance to be beaten.

In the end, finding him immovable in the resolve he had taken to fight at any cost, I made my desire yield to my duty. I left him for the first time. I retired in haste to Inverness, there to burn all my papers,[Pg lxx] and there to think over the means of preserving for your Majesty that portion of the [French] troops which might survive the action. I saw before the end of the day, the most striking spectacle of human weakness—the Prince was vanquished in an instant; never was a defeat more complete than his.

THE WANDERINGS OF PRINCE CHARLES IN THE HEBRIDES

This narrative by Neil Maceachain, the guide of Prince Charles and Flora Macdonald over the seas to Skye, appeared in the New Monthly Magazine for 1840. As a magazine article three-quarters of a century old is nearly as inaccessible as a manuscript, the Council of the Society authorised its inclusion in this volume as a fitting addition to the numerous narratives of the ’Forty-five collected by the Society.

In the magazine the article is prefaced with a note by the editor, Theodore Hook, who states that it was purchased from a hairdresser in Paris who claimed to be the son of the writer, and who, as Hook believed, must have been a son of Neil Maceachain. This, however, was impossible, as Neil had but one son who survived infancy—a son who had a far more distinguished career.

The fact is that when Neil died, his son was in garrison at Calais. The father’s papers were made over to the custody of a Mr. Macnab, a Highland exile residing in France. At the Revolution, Macnab was imprisoned, his effects were seized and scattered, and Neil Maceachain’s papers were lost. Probably at that time the vendor had obtained the manuscript.

My attention was drawn to the paper about twenty years ago, and I determined to find out what its claims to authenticity might be. In one of my journeys through the Outer Hebrides, when compiling the Itinerary of Prince Charles,[77] I was accompanied by the late Father Allan[Pg lxxi] Macdonald, priest of Eriska and Dean of the Isles. We took a copy of the article with us, and traced on the spot the wanderings here described. We were much gratified; local tradition as well as topography completely corroborated the narrative. It could only have been written by one thoroughly acquainted with the islands. There could be no doubt of its genuineness, and it must have been written by Neil Maceachain.

In the Itinerary there is a short account of Neil, to which the reader is referred. Briefly, he was one of the Macdonald-Maceachains of Howbeg, in South Uist, a sept of the Clanranald. Neil was educated in France for the priesthood, but abandoned his intention of taking orders, and returned to South Uist, where he acted as parish schoolmaster and tutor in the family of Clanranald, who then resided at Nunton in Benbecula. The old chief attached Neil to Prince Charles when in hiding in the islands, believing that his scholarship, his knowledge of languages, and his accomplishments as a musician might be useful to the Prince.

It must be remembered that the narrative can be accepted as trustworthy only for the occasions on which Neil was actually with the Prince. He met him on his first arrival at Benbecula, but he did not accompany him on his journey to Harris and Lewis; he was, however, again with him on his return to Benbecula and South Uist. Neil’s accounts, therefore, of the Prince’s adventures when away from South Uist are only from hearsay and not to be entirely depended on. In the Itinerary I followed for that part of the Prince’s wanderings the narrative of Donald Macleod of Gualtergil, who was then his companion and guide.

Not the least interesting portion of the narrative is the account of the meeting between Flora Macdonald and Prince Charles. So much fiction mingles with accounts of the incident, in prose, in verse, and in pictures, that[Pg lxxii] it is well to get the simple facts of the story. There were no English soldiers in the Hebrides; the duty of hunting the Prince was entrusted to the independent companies of Highlanders generally referred to as the Macdonald, Macleod, and Campbell militia. It must be remembered, however, that the Navy was relentless in the pursuit. Flora’s stepfather, Hugh Macdonald, was one of the chief men of the Sleat Clan which supported the Government, while Flora herself was a Clanranald.[78] She had been educated in her childhood with Clanranald’s family, and later she had been a good deal with Sir Alexander and Lady Margaret Macdonald in Edinburgh. Flora was dearly loved by both the families, and was a very suitable person to conduct Prince Charles from Clanranald territory to Skye. Moreover, the moment was opportune, for Sir Alexander Macdonald was in attendance on the Duke of Cumberland at Fort Augustus, and Lady Margaret, who had taken the utmost interest in the Prince and had secretly sent him comforts to South Uist, was at home at Monkstat.

Hugh Macdonald has always been suspected of collusion with the Prince,[79] but this is the only narrative in which the fact is stated categorically. Charles declared that he felt safe while he was with the Macdonalds.[80] Flora had but one meeting with Charles Edward in South Uist, on June 21st, when the plan of escape to Skye was arranged (p. 251). They met again on the evening of Saturday, June 28th, at Benbecula, whence Flora, Neil, and the Prince went by boat to Skye. Sunday night was spent at Kingsburgh’s house, and the narrative breaks off at the interesting moment when the party was on the way from Monkstat to Kingsburgh. What happened after that is found in various narratives of The Lyon in Mourning. Briefly, the Prince spent the night at Kingsburgh House. Next day, he walked to Portree, changing his female clothes[Pg lxxiii] in a wood on the road. The Prince walked by private paths and Flora rode by the main highway. At Portree the Prince said farewell to Flora for ever.

Such is the story, and it needs no embellishment. Flora’s services to the Prince were matchless; she saved him at the moment when General Campbell with his militia and a naval expedition were on the point of capturing him. She herself was taken prisoner a few days later.[81]

At Portree Neil Maceachain also said farewell to Prince Charles, who with Malcolm and Murdoch Macleod went that night to the island of Raasa. The following day the Prince returned to Skye, and left two days later for the mainland. Thus finished his wanderings in the Hebrides.

Neil evaded capture after the escape of Prince Charles from Skye; in September he rejoined him at Arisaig, and in the ship L’Heureux accompanied the Prince to France. There he joined the French army, at first as a lieutenant in the Regiment d’Albanie, of which the command was given to Lochiel, and afterwards in the Scots regiment of Lord Ogilvy, the Jacobite exile. Ogilvy’s regiment was disbanded after the Peace of Paris in 1763, and Neil passed the rest of his life, first at Sedan and afterwards at Sancerre, in the province of Berry, on a pension of three hundred livres (about £30). He died at Sancerre in 1788. When he left Scotland Neil dropped the name of Maceachain, retaining only that of Macdonald.

His only son became famous as one of Napoleon’s generals—Marshal Macdonald, Duke of Tarentum.

NARRATIVE OF LUDOVICK GRANT OF GRANT

In 1745 Sir James Grant was the head of the family. His father at the Revolution had taken the side of King William, and had been a member of the Convention of[Pg lxxiv] Estates which declared King James’s forfeiture. He had raised a regiment and had incurred heavy expenses in the service of the new Government, but in spite of frequent applications no repayment had ever been made to him. Sir James’s elder brother, Alexander, succeeded his father. He was a distinguished soldier, who served the Government faithfully, and rose to the rank of Brigadier-General. In the ’Fifteen he was Lord-Lieutenant of Banff and Inverness, and was appointed Captain of Edinburgh Castle. In 1717 he was informed that the Government had no further occasion for his services. He died in 1719, and was succeeded by his brother James, who by a special grant inherited the baronetcy of his father-in-law, Sir Humphrey Colquhoun of Luss. Sir James Grant was member of parliament for the county of Inverness from 1722 to 1741, when a quarrel with Duncan Forbes of Culloden forced him to relinquish the constituency. He then became member for the Elgin burghs, for which he sat until his death in 1747. Although Sir James was a Whig in politics, it may be that at one time he had dealings with the Jacobite Court. It is remarkable that in 1721, while the Atterbury Plot was being hatched, and at the very time that Christopher Layer was in Rome on that business, Sir James Grant was created a peer by the Chevalier.[82]

On his arrival in Scotland, Prince Charles wrote to Grant requesting his co-operation in much the same terms as he wrote to known Jacobite adherents.[83] Sir James, who was now sixty-six years old, determined to keep out of trouble. He handed over the management of his clan and property to his eldest son, Ludovick, and on the pretext of attending to his parliamentary duties, he[Pg lxxv] went to London, where he remained throughout the Rising.

Before leaving Scotland, Sir James pointed out to his son that the family had received scant reward for eminent services in the past, and he advised him that whatever happened the clan should not be subdivided. He strongly opposed Duncan Forbes’s scheme of independent companies. The clan should remain passive, prepared to defend its own territory, and only act in the event of its being attacked. This policy Ludovick carried out, and in doing so incurred the grave suspicion of the Government. It is indeed difficult to believe that, until the final retreat of the Jacobites and the approach of Cumberland, the acting Chief of the Grants was not sitting on the fence.

The Grant estates were in two distinct portions, those around Castle Grant in Strathspey and those in Urquhart and Glenmoriston on the western side of Loch Ness. Although the Strathspey Grants were accounted a Whig clan, the Grants of Urquhart and Glenmoriston were notoriously Jacobite. When the Rising took place, Ludovick Grant wrote to his outlying retainers, not forbidding them to join the Prince, but peremptorily forbidding them to move without his sanction. Eventually they went ‘out’ in spite of his orders, but the Strathspey men stood loyally by their chief.

The whole story of the rising in Urquhart and Glenmoriston and the action of Ludovick Grant towards the Government and his clansmen has been told within recent years in a most interesting volume by Mr. William Mackay,[84] to which the reader is referred. The narrative printed here is Grant’s own apologia to the Government, prepared with legal assistance after the Rising. The text tells its own story, but four points may be referred to here, points which it gave Ludovick Grant much[Pg lxxvi] trouble to explain. First, when Sir John Cope marched north in August 1745 he passed within ten miles of Castle Grant, yet the young chief neither visited him nor sent him assistance.[85] Second, when President Duncan Forbes asked him to furnish two independent companies for the service of Government, he declined, on the ostensible ground that two companies were too insignificant a contingent for so important a clan as the Grants. He eventually was persuaded to send one company,[86] whose only service was to garrison Inverness Castle under Major George Grant, Ludovick’s uncle. The castle surrendered to Prince Charles in February after two days’ siege, and the commandant was dismissed the service. Third, Grant marched his men to Strathbogie to attack Lord Lewis Gordon’s men in December without orders from Lord Loudoun, then commanding in the north,[87] for which he incurred Lord Loudoun’s censure. Fourth, when Grant had gone to Aberdeen in March, five of his principal gentlemen made a treaty of neutrality[88] with the Jacobites under Lord George Murray and Lord Nairn, by which the Prince’s people were to get supplies from the Grant country in return for protection from raiding.

This narrative is occasionally referred to in Sir William Fraser’s Chiefs of Grant, but is not included in that work. The text is printed from the original manuscripts in the Public Record Office.

THE CASE OF THE REV. JOHN GRANT AND OF GRANTS OF SHEUGLY

To show his zeal for the Government after Culloden, Ludovick Grant marched his Strathspey men, eight hundred strong, into Urquhart and Glenmoriston, and under threat[Pg lxxvii] of fire and sword arrested his clansmen who had been ‘out.’ The fighting men were handed over to the Duke of Cumberland, and most of them were transported. Grant of Sheugly and his eldest son had not actually been out but were accused of urging their people to join the Jacobites. They were sent to London as prisoners along with the Reverend John Grant, minister of Urquhart. Ludovick asserted to the Duke of Newcastle that the minister ‘was at all their consultations and never attempted to dissuade the people from joining the rebells, but on the contrary gave over praying for his Majesty, and after the battle of Culloden he concealed some of the rebells and had their money in keeping.... Mr. Grant concealed from me where three of the rebells were hid by his direction....’[89]

The reader will find the minister’s own story in the text, and must judge of its truth. Perhaps Grant protests too much, for Mr. Mackay informs me that the tradition of the parish is that he was a thorough Jacobite. It is perfectly evident, however, that the Attorney-General and the Solicitor-General thought lightly of the case both against the minister and young Sheugly, or they would never have remitted them to the court at Edinburgh, when it was notorious that no Scottish jury would convict a Jacobite.

The prisoners, on December 4th, ‘sisted [surrendered] themselves in court [at Edinburgh] to answer for alleadged Rebellion and all such matters as on his Majesty’s behalf should be objected against them.’[90] They were admitted to bail and there the matter ended.

The Presbytery records show that no ecclesiastical proceedings were taken against the minister, though probably that does not mean much. At that time it may well be[Pg lxxviii] believed that every minister and elder in the Highlands sympathised with the hunted Jacobites. The only minister of the Church of Scotland who was dealt with for disloyalty in the ’Forty-five was Thomas Man, minister of Dunkeld. He was tried before the Commission of General Assembly in May 1747. The libel against him was found relevant, and the charges partly confessed or found proven. The sentence was gentle—five months’ suspension from his duties.[91]

The manuscript of this case is preserved in the Record Office.

GROSSETT’S MEMORIAL AND ACCOUNTS

Walter Grossett[92] of Logie was the grandson of a certain Alexander Grossett, or Grosier, or Grosiert, a Frenchman, who came over to Great Britain in the Civil Wars and served King Charles I. in the army. He settled in Scotland, and died there, leaving a son Alexander. This son purchased the small estate of Logie, near Dunfermline. He was an ardent Covenanter, and retired to Holland at the time of the persecutions. Alexander left an only son, Archibald, who married Eupham Muirhead, a daughter of the laird of Bredisholm, in North Lanarkshire, by whom he had three sons; of these Walter was the eldest. Through his mother, he was a cousin of Sir John Shaw of Greenock, and was also nearly connected with the families of Lord Blantyre and the Earl of Cathcart.

In 1745 this Walter Grossett was Collector of Customs at Alloa, an office he had held for seventeen years. He was exceedingly active in his vocation, and very successful[Pg lxxix] in the prosecution of smugglers. A short time before the Rising, at great risk to himself, he made one of the largest seizures of smuggled tobacco ever made in Scotland, thus enriching the Treasury by several thousand pounds.[93] Early in the ’Forty-five, eight days before Prince Charles entered Edinburgh, Grossett was commissioned by Lord Advocate Craigie to seize the boats and shipping on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth to prevent their falling into the hands of the Jacobite army, then assembling at Perth. Apparently his performance gave satisfaction, for he was promoted to be Collector at Leith, and he was constantly employed thereafter by the military authorities and the Lord Justice-Clerk, both in executive work and in secret service. His services were so highly approved by the Duke of Cumberland that H.R.H. promised him ‘his countenance on every occasion.’[94] After the suppression of the Rising, he was employed by the Duke of Newcastle, Secretary of State, to collect evidence for the prosecution of the rebel lords and other Jacobite prisoners, and to escort the witnesses for the prosecution to London. For his services to Government he was promoted to the office of Inspector-General of Customs in 1747, on the recommendation of the Duke of Cumberland.[95]

Grossett must have been a man of great personal courage, for he went about with his life in his hand. On one occasion, it is related, he saved the life of his cousin Sir John Shaw by entering the Jacobite camp (it is not stated when or where) and carrying him off in the disguise of a Jacobite officer.[96] His enemies, whether Jacobites or smugglers, perhaps both, wreaked terrible[Pg lxxx] vengeance on his house and his family, treating his wife so harshly that she died shortly afterwards.[97]

It is pleasant to find on record a friendly action of Grossett to a condemned prisoner. Patrick Murray, a goldsmith of Stirling, was taken prisoner at Airdrie in November 1745 by some country people. To Grossett, who was present, he declared that he surrendered in accordance with Marshal Wade’s proclamation of 30th October offering his Majesty’s clemency to all rebels who would surrender before 11th November.[98] Grossett had been summoned to Murray’s trial at Carlisle as a witness for the defence, but was prevented from being present owing to his secret services detaining him in London. Murray was tried on September 24th, 1746, found guilty, and condemned to death. The terms of his surrender were not pled at his trial, and Grossett sent in a memorial stating the facts of the arrestment:[99] it was of no avail, Murray was executed on November 15th.

Grossett tells the story of his executive work and of the expenses he incurred in the pages printed in this volume. He mentions that he gave evidence in 1747 at the trial of Lord Provost Archibald Stewart for losing Edinburgh to Prince Charles, but he does not mention the lines in which he is held up to shame and ridicule, along with the magistrates and the clergy of Edinburgh, in a poem published after the trial, which was burned by the[Pg lxxxi] hangman, and which brought the printer to the pillory and to ruin:

‘And stupid Gr—t next must take the field,
And He, (with fifty,) swore he would not yield,
To those brave Hundreds (who deserv’d the rope,)
That did beat Thousands under Sir J—n C—pe.’[100]

Judging from the report of the Duke of Cumberland’s Secretary and the Solicitor to the Treasury (p. 400), Grossett’s claim for £3709 was justified. I have, however, failed to discover if the sum was actually paid, and family papers throw some doubt on this. In a memorandum by his eldest son it is stated that he was a sufferer for his services to Government by many thousand pounds. This may mean that his claim was never liquidated, though after the report of the official scrutineers that hardly seems probable. It is more likely that young Grossett refers to the legal expenses incurred by his father in defending himself against the ‘scandalous Libells and groundless and vexatious lawsuits,’ which he had to meet as the result of his anti-Jacobite and anti-smuggling zeal, together with the loss of professional perquisites referred to on pp. 336 and 337.[101]

A gauger has always been a most unpopular personage[Pg lxxxii] in Scotland, and Grossett rendered himself doubly odious by his action as informer against the unfortunate Jacobite prisoners. He was the victim of shoals of frivolous actions in the courts, brought by persons determined to wear him out in law expenses. He was strongly advised by the Secretary of State to leave the country and go abroad for a few years, and he was told that the Treasury would give him full pay as Inspector-General during his absence on leave. How long this leave on full pay continued I do not know, but Grossett went to Italy. His wife had been a Miss de Vlieger, the daughter of a Dutch merchant and Government financier, and it may be that this fact stimulated Grossett to international financial enterprise. Along with the Earl of Rochfort, British minister at the Sardinian Court, and other gentlemen, he entered into silver and copper mining adventures in Savoy, which proved utter failures. He returned to England a completely ruined man, and died broken-hearted, in 1760, at his son’s house in London.

Walter Grossett had been heir-presumptive to his uncle, John Muirhead of Bredisholm, the last of the male representatives of that ancient family and of the Muirheads of that Ilk. Muirhead had helped Grossett in his mining speculations, and had become so involved that he was obliged to sell the reversion of the estate in order to live. He wished the property kept in the family, so he sold it to Walter Grossett’s nephew, the son of his youngest brother, James, a prosperous merchant of Lisbon, who assumed the name of Muirhead. James’s son John married a granddaughter of Lord George Murray—Lady Jean Murray, daughter of the third Duke of Atholl.[102] He is the ancestor of the family which, in the female line but retaining the name of Muirhead, still possesses the property of Bredisholm.

[Pg lxxxiii]

Grossett’s second brother, Alexander, was a captain in Price’s regiment, and served on the staff at the battle of Culloden, where he was killed under circumstances related in the text (p. 336). His wife and children are on the list of recipients of gratuities from a Guildhall Relief Fund collected for sufferers in the campaign of the ’Forty-five (see Appendix, p. 429). The entry reads, ‘Captain Grossett’s widow and 4 children, £150.’ It was the largest individual sum distributed.

Grossett’s narrative seems truthful and straightforward. Although presented in the unusual form of a commercial invoice, it is particularly interesting and useful in giving details of minor events of the campaign not generally mentioned, or at least not detailed elsewhere. He, however, would convey the impression that his enterprises were always successful, which was not the case. For instance, the Jacobites were successful in securing the passage of the Firth of Forth, yet Grossett does not make the reader understand this in his long account of the operation at pp. 353-358, and the same applies to other passages. Yet the description does not differ more from the Jacobite accounts than in modern times do the descriptions of operations as narrated by opposing belligerent generals.[103]

Two services he was employed on are worthy of special notice—the release of the officers on parole (p. 364), and his participation in the distribution of the Guildhall Relief Fund (p. 374). The former service had been originally destined by Hawley for the company of Edinburgh volunteers under the command of John Home (author of Douglas), by whom it was indignantly refused.[104] The[Pg lxxxiv] latter, which is described in the Appendix, is particularly interesting at the present time of war, when similar funds are being distributed for similar purposes.

The manuscripts of the ‘Memorial,’ the ‘Narrative,’ and ‘The Account of Money’ are in the Record Office. A remarkable coincidence procured the Correspondence printed on pp. 379-399. After the ‘Narrative’ was in type, my friend, Mr. Moir Bryce, President of the Old Edinburgh Club, sent me a packet of letters, most of them holograph, to look over and see if there was anything of interest in them. To my surprise and gratification, I found they were the identical original letters that Grossett quotes as authority for his transactions. Mr. Bryce, who had purchased the letters from a dealer, knew nothing of the history of their ownership. He subsequently generously presented me with the collection. The Report of Fawkener and Sharpe was lent to me by Miss Frances Grosett-Collins, Bredisholm, Chew Magna, Somerset. Miss Grosett-Collins also kindly lent me some family papers from which, along with documents preserved in the Record Office and the British Museum, these brief notes of her ancestor’s career have been compiled.

ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLES OF PRESTON, FALKIRK, AND CULLODEN

This is a beautifully written manuscript of sixty-two folios, small quarto, by Andrew Lumisden, private secretary to Prince Charles when in Scotland. Certain documents bound up with the manuscript give its history. It was originally written for the information of John Home, author of the tragedy of Douglas, when engaged in writing his history of the Rebellion. After Home’s death, it was presented by his nephew, John Home, W.S., to Macvey[Pg lxxxv] Napier, Librarian of the Signet Library. In 1840 Napier presented it to Mr. James Gibson Craig, W.S., because, as he says in a letter, he ‘has a just taste and value for such documents.’ On Mr. Gibson Craig’s death in 1886, it passed into the collection of his partner Sir Thomas Dawson Brodie, Bart. On his death, it came into my possession by purchase.

Andrew Lumisden was a grandson of Andrew Lumisden, episcopal minister of Duddingston, who was ‘outed’ at the Revolution. In 1727 the latter was consecrated bishop of Edinburgh, and died six years later. The bishop’s third son, William, was educated for the bar, but he ‘went out’ in 1715, and, refusing to take the oaths to Government after that Rising, he was unable to follow his profession, but practised in Edinburgh as a Writer or law agent. He married Mary Bruce, a granddaughter of Robert Bruce, third of Kennet. To them were born two children, (1) Isabella born in 1719, who, in 1747, was married to the young artist Robert Strange, whom she had induced to join Prince Charles’s Life Guards, and who afterwards became the most famous British engraver of his time, and was knighted by George III.; and (2) Andrew, born in 1720, the author of this ‘Account.’

Andrew followed his father’s profession of Writer, and when Prince Charles came to Edinburgh in 1745 he was, on the recommendation of his cousin Sir Alex. Dick of Prestonfield, appointed private secretary to the Prince, and accompanied him throughout the campaign. After Culloden he was attainted. He concealed himself for some weeks in Edinburgh, escaped to London, and thence to Rouen. Here at first he suffered great privation, but succeeded in obtaining a French pension of 600 livres, which relieved his immediate wants. In 1749 he went to Rome, and in the following year he was appointed Assistant Secretary to the Old Chevalier. On the death of James Edgar, in 1762, he succeeded him as Jacobite Secretary[Pg lxxxvi] of State. The Old Chevalier died in 1766, and Lumisden was for a time continued in his office by Charles. The great object of Charles’s policy was to be acknowledged by the Pope as King of Great Britain, a title which Clement XIII. refused him in spite of a powerful appeal by Cardinal Henry, Duke of York, to his Holiness.[105] Charles, smarting under the indignity, became intensely irritable, and gave himself up more and more to self-indulgence. In December 1768 Lumisden, along with two other Scottish officials, was summarily dismissed for refusing to accompany his royal master to an oratorio when that master was intoxicated.[106] Leaving Rome, he settled in Paris, where he moved in the highest literary and artistic circles. In 1773 he was allowed to return to Great Britain, and five years later he received a full pardon.

Lumisden, who was never married, continued to spend much of his time in Paris, accounted ‘a man of the finest taste and learning,’ living the life of a dilettante, and paying frequent visits to London and Edinburgh.

There is a pleasant anecdote told of him at this time, which reflects the kindly feeling borne by King George III. to irreconcilable Jacobites. It is very similar to the well-known story of King George’s message to Laurence Oliphant of Gask, told by Sir Walter Scott in the Introduction to Redgauntlet. It must be remembered that to their dying day both the laird of Gask and Andrew Lumisden never referred to King George except as the Elector of Hanover. The story of Lumisden is told in a family paper[107] by his great-niece Mrs. Mure (née Louisa Strange), and may be given in that lady’s own words.

[Pg lxxxvii]

A valuable library was about to be dispersed in Paris, which contained a rare copy or edition of the Bible, and George III. commissioned his bookseller, Mr. Nichol, to procure it for him at a certain limit as to price. Mr. Nichol, intimate with Mr. Lumisden, whose literary character qualified him to pronounce as to the authenticity and value of this work, employed him to examine, and, on approval, to make this purchase, which he did, obtaining it at a far lower price than had been mentioned. The king, delighted with his acquisition, asked Mr. Nichol how he had managed to get it. Mr. Nichol replied he had ‘applied to a friend of his much connected with literature, whom he could trust,’ etc., etc. ‘Well, but who is your friend,’ said the king, ‘I suppose he has a name?’ ‘A gentleman named Lumisden, your Majesty,’ said Mr. Nichol. ‘Oh!’ replied the king, ‘the Prince’s secretary.’ The king, with true courtesy, never called Charles Edward aught but ‘the Prince.’ ‘Yes, your Majesty,’ said Mr. Nichol shyly, ‘the same.’ ‘Well, Nichol,’ said the king, ‘I am much obliged by the trouble Mr. Lumisden has taken; pray, make him my compliments, and tell him so; and I should like to send him some little token of this. What shall it be?’ Nichol suggested ‘a book, perhaps,’ and it is said the king laughed and said, ‘Oh, yes! a book, a book! that would suit you!’ However, the message was sent, and Mr. Lumisden’s reply was, that he should be gratified by the possession of a copy of Captain Cook’s Voyages, then just published, in which he took a deep interest, and considered they owed their success to the individual patronage given them by the king himself.

A very handsome copy of Anson’s and Cook’s Voyages, in nine quarto volumes, was sent to Mr. Lumisden by the king. They were left by Mr. Lumisden to my father [Sir Thomas Strange], and he bequeathed them to his son James, now Admiral Strange, in whose possession they are. [Written in 1883.]

In 1797 Lumisden published a volume at London entitled Remarks on the Antiquities of Rome and its Environs ... with Engravings, his only literary legacy excepting this account of the battles in Scotland. I have[Pg lxxxviii] failed to discover at what period of his life this manuscript was written.

Lumisden died in Edinburgh in 1801. His usual lodging had been in the Luckenbooths, the very heart of the old town, but he had recently changed his quarters to the then new Princes Street, and to the very newest part of that street, the section west of Castle Street. To the imagination it seems strangely incongruous, yet as a link between the past and the present not entirely unfitting, that this aged partisan of the House of Stuart, probably the last Scottish gentleman who personally served that dynasty whose capital was the ancient city, should meet his death in the newest part of that modern street which is the glory of the Edinburgh that the Stuarts never knew.


[Pg 3]

ORIGINS OF THE ’FORTY-FIVE
PAPERS OF JOHN MURRAY OF BROUGHTON

A COPY OF ORIGINAL PAPERS written by John Murray, Esq., Secretary to the Young Pretender, containing a History of the first Rise and Progress of the Late Rebellion from the End of the year 1742 to 1744.

N.B.—The original is written by Mr. Murray’s own hand and was found after the Battle of Culloden, and seems to have been originally design’d as Memoirs, etc.

Copy of a shattered Leaf belonging to the original Manuscript

Edgar to Murray

During all this winter[108] my Lord T[ra]q[uai]r,[109] as I observed before, was at London with Lord Semple[110] and Mr. Drummond,[111] and the gentlemen in the Highlands immediately concerned in his Majesties affairs were employed in cultivating his interest amongst their vassals and neighbours, which was the more easily done as the most part of that country are naturally Loyal and at the same time ... run so high against the Government, that any scheme proposed ... was most acceptable. It seems after his Lordship had been there sometime, he wrote a letter to his Majestie, in answer to which I received one enclosed to me from Mr. Edgar,[112] dated the 5th of July 1742, which was this.... It is a long time since I had the pleasure of writting to you which has been occasioned by my knowing you was informed of everything by[Pg 4] Bahady, and that being the case I did not care to ... venture all ... time when I shall ... to say to you as I ha ... view of recommending them ... for Lord [Tra]q[uai]r to your care ... of it with much satisfaction ... to assure you of my best respect and of the longing I have to tell you by word of mouth how much I am yours. As Lord T[ra]q[uai]r has been lately at London and knew there how things were going it is useless for me to enter here ... matters and as the King has particular directions to give you ... sent I shall add nothing ... but by his Majesties Com ... kind compliments ... that the family a ... I am with all my h....

After his Lordships return ... taken to inform the Highlands of the favourable situation there seemed to ... from the information he had got from Lord Semple and Drummond ...

The rest of this page torn away.

Copy of another shattered Leaf

Which message tho’ they began to languish a little, yet kept up their spirits. As nothing is more common than for people to believe what they wish and hope for, however specious the encouragement may be. Upon Mr. Drummond parting with His Lordship at London, he assured him he would write particularly whatever Resolutions the Cardinal[113] should come to after his arrival, imagining, as he said, that the promises they had gott in England from the King’s friends there would suffice to determine the old man to act strenuously in his Majesty’s favours; upon which we waited impatiently to hear from him. In the beginning of Winter Locheal came to town with whom I had occasion often to converse on these subjects, and always found him the man the most ready, and willing chearfully to enter into any scheme that would conduce to His Majesty’s interest: and must here declare[Pg 5] that I really believe he is the most sincere honest man the Country produces, without the least shew of self interest. After several months had passed without my hearing from Rome, or any letters coming from My L[ord] T[ra]q[uai]r received one from Mr. Drummond about the beginning of December and dated ... of ... which alarmed us very much, as it gave us ground to believe that things were much nearer Action, than we had any notion of, and indeed it seemed to us only fitt to be written a few weeks before a descent; but to make the reader Judge, I shall here insert a letter itself.

Copy Mr. Drummond’s letter to the Earl of T[ra]q[uai]r dated the     1742.

The rest awanting.

Copy of another torn Leaf in Manuscripts

As there was nothing in this letter but a general assurance of the French Design without either specyfying the number of the Troops, Arms, Money, Ammunition or even the fixed time, My Lord T[ra]q[uai]r and the Laird of Lochiel[114] considering how unprepared the Country was to join in any such attack attempt, and that from the contents of the letter it was impossible to give any positive directions to the Gentlemen of the Highlands, together with the near prospect they had of a landing, which must of necessity have proved abortive had it really happened. They thought it absolutely necessary they should be presently informed of everything, but the difficulty was how to accomplish it. There was no opportunity to write, the time of an answer uncertain, and from the indistinct letter already received they had no great reason to expect anything in writing very satisfactory ... upon which I offered to go ... and then learn distinctly ... the Resolutions of the ... fully informed ... but as this was not to ... having the opinion of ... who[Pg 6] were the most ... in his Majesties Interest ... a letter wrote by ... which went to him by ... likewise one to S[ir] J[ames] C[ampbell][115] their advice and opinion, and during the intervall we had severall conversations all tending to acquaint us particularly of what had been carried on for sometime before by Lord Semple, Mr. Drummond and then received by me as one of these who had been the first in the Country to form a Concert, binding themselves by oath not to discover their schemes to any but one of themselves, or the persons agreed upon to be received amongst them by the Consent of the whole.

I had for a long time before been pretty well acquainted with who were the principle people concerned in all the present transactions, without knowing there had ever been any such formal Combination. I gave my word of honour faithfully to keep these secrets, and then they told me the rise of the Story what assurances they had given the French by the hands of Drummond and Lord Semple after making terms with the King himself, that nobody should be acquented with their procedure without their consent. I was like wise informed

The rest of this Page not legible.

The weather at this time happening to be very stormy, the express did not return for two weeks longer than we expected; but upon receiving his Lordships answer which he approved of the proposal, I sett about making ready to sett off, and accordingly took journey about the 10 or 12 of Jany. 1743, upon the pretence of talking with the Duke of Queensberry[116] then at London concerning a process I had with the Earl of March,[117] to whom his Grace had been Tutor-in-law.

On the Friday I left Edinburgh and went to Traquair[Pg 7] and so through Tweeddale to York, where I stop’d to talk to the D[uke] of P[erth] one of the Concert, and acquaint him with my journey and received his commands. The principal part of my transactions was to make myself fully acquainted with the French Resolutions, to give them all encouragement possible, and to write to his Majesty acquainting him that the Gentleman in the Highlands being informed that my L[ord] M[arischal],[118] whom his Majesty had honoured with the Command, was a man of a very high and forbidding manner, and exceedingly positive in his way, they were afraid least such procedure might create differences and heart burnings amongst them; wherefore he prayed his Majesty would send over General Keith,[119] who they understood was of a very mild and humane temper and in whose abilitys they had great confidence. When I came to York his Grace the D[uke] of P[erth] approved highly of my going over and gave me a great many injunctions[120] how to write to the King, which is needless here to put down as they all tended to prevent differences in case matters came to be put in execution. I then went to London, where I only stayed some few days, and sett out of on[Pg 8] Munday about 12 o’clock to Dover where I arrived the same night about 9 o’clock, and found a Packet ready to sail. As the wind was then pretty fair, I was in hopes of getting next morning pretty early to Calais, but it changed a little after we was at sea, so were oblidged to make for Boulogne, this made me exceedingly uneasy as I was instructed to go privately to Paris without the knowledge of any of the people who were at Boulogne, and now in all probability we were to land in broad daylight where I must infallibly have been known; but luckily we were becalmed all that day, and did not arrive till about three in the morning. I stayed there till about five, when I got a chaise and set out for Paris, where I came on Friday morning and went to McDonald’s the Banquier,[121] and enquired for Mr. Maxwell, which was the name Drummond then went by. I immediately went to him this same day before dinner, and found him greatly surprised at my Coming, but said it was very lucky as it might be a mean to quicken the French in proceeding; when they saw how forward and anxious the Country was to come to action. Upon my arrival at London I heard of Cardinal Fleury’s death, which was a very unlucky incident; for these two Gentlemen had it left in their power to assert, that had not that happened, every thing would certainly have been performed, and not then in my power to advance anything positively to the contrary. I went with Mr. Drummond in the evening to Lord Semple who I had never seen before: he received me very civily and enquired about the situation of the Country which I told him was very favourable; but as the letter Mr. Drummond had wrote, gave us to understand that the Cardinal had determined to put things in execution sooner than we had any cause to expect, never having had anything encouraging before, and that by that letter, we was told of no particulars, it was judged necessary I should[Pg 9] come over to know how things were to be executed: and particularly, what assurances of every kind we might depend upon; so as the Gentlemen of the concert might be able upon my return to sett immediately about preparing the Country for their reception. He then agreed with Mr. Drummond that my coming over was well timed, but that he was afraid it might require some time before the French could be brought into it, as in all probability their schemes would be entirely altered by the Cardinal’s death; that all his views consisted in keeping peace, but that there was a party of younger people about court, who had gained a good deal upon the King, which together with his own natural disposition and heat of youth inclined him to war. At the same time he said it was lucky that he had observed the Cardinal’s Decline, and had persuaded him to impart all the affairs that concerned this Country to Mr. Amalot,[122] by which means they would be but little stop as to the King or Ministery being acquainted with whatever related to us, as Mr. Amalot was continued as Minister of Forreign Affairs. A great deal more of this kind passed, and upon my not being able to tell them minutly what every individual of the Concert had done in the particular District alotted them, Mr. Drummond complained that I had not been fully informed of all their Scheme. I in the meanwhile did not reflect upon the Cause of his making such reflections against Lord T[ra]q[uai]r, who was the person that informed me of their Concert; but it has often occurred to me since, that they laid great stress on all the little pieces of information they gott of the Gentlemen’s procedure in Scotland, and everything they gott took care to make a mighty matter of it to the King: and Mr. Drummond did not fail as he has often told me himself, to write in the strongest terms to his Majesty, of their great success, which he knew must always redound so far to his advantage, as he had taken care to make the King believe he was the person who had sett all in motion, and that it was upon his plan that they acted, and their success[Pg 10] mostly owing to following the Scheme he had laid down to them. I then told them it would be necessary as the Cardinal was now dead that I saw Mr. Amalot, and heard what Resolutions they had taken, to be able to inform the King’s friends of what was to be expected. Lord Semple told me that Mr. Amalot was then at Versailes, but would be in town on Sunday when he would talk to him, and inform him of my being sent over, and gett him to fix a time when I might have an audience, he accordingly was with him on the Sunday and, as he told me the same evening, could not see him for ... and when he did tell him, he took it very ill that he had been made wait so long in his Out-chamber; that although his Master was not upon the Throne and so did not keep his Ministers publickly at Court, yet he thought using these he employed in his service in that shape was treating him ill and not like a Prince as he really was. That Mr. Amalot made excuses from his being so little in Paris all week, and consequently hurryed all the while he was there; but fixed no time when to see me, so his Lordship went by himself to Versailes that week, where he stayed a night or two and returned to town. I went out some days after along with him and Mr. Drumond to see Mr. Amalot who was first to talk to with the King and then return me his Majesty’s answer, but was told from day to day, that he could not have an opportunity of talking with the King. So was oblidged to return to Paris without seeing him.

I wrote a pretty long letter to the King acquainting him with the reasons of my coming over and hoping his Majesty would pardon my leaving the Country without his Permission, but not to be too tedious by mentioning all the different conversations I had with his Lordship and Mr. Drummond during my stay which were all to the same purpose, together with the most severe Reflections and Invectives against the Dutches of Buckingham[123][Pg 11] and Lord Marshal with Coll Cecel,[124] Coll Brette[125] and Ch. Smith[126] and all those who were of a contrary party from them, alledging it was entirely owing to their having given in Ridiculous Schemes to the Cardinal demanding vast numbers of men, money, cannon, etc., sufficient to conquer the Country, which made the Old man have a mean opinion of the power of the King’s party and put a stop to his realy putting in execution ... required of him; and at the same time assuring me that these people were most unjust to the Cardinal in alledging that he was not hearty and sincere in the King’s interest, for that he had often professed that he would willingly lose his own life in the cause, that there was nothing he had so much at heart next to the Interest of his own Master, and that he had even cryed[127] with concern in speaking of the misfortunes of the King’s family, and notwithstanding he had a very mean opinion of the other party, yet the Memorials they had given instruct him so much that it cost Lord Semple the utmost[128] pains and trouble to perswade him of the contrary, but[Pg 12] they had after some time succeeded so effectually that he was determined to send over a body of troops to England and designed Mr. Mailebois[129] should return to Flanders for that purpose; but that the party at Court which opposed him had influenced the King to make him march his Army into Westphalia which occasioned the Neutrality for Hannover; that this was so opposite to his Schemes, and he was sensible that a general war must ensue, and France thereby brought into great difficulties, that together with the King’s loose way of living, having at that time taken the third sister for his mistress, had certainly broke his heart, for he had been observed from that moment to decline, and dyed soon after.[130]

Having spent some days at Paris in hearing such like storys, I went again to Versailes where we were still put off till the night I left it. When we had an audience of Mr. Amalot I told him that the Gentlemen in the Concert in Scotland,[131] having from time to time received assurances from the late Cardinal of Troops, Arms and Money, had been continualy expecting to hear that a final Resolution was taken but upon being informed of the bad state of health the Cardinal was in,[132][Pg 13] they had done me the honour to send me over instructed to represent the situation of their affairs to the Ministry and to acquaint them they had wrought so effectualy with the Country in general and their Vassals in particular that they could raise near thirty thousand men and were able to make themselves masters of the Country in six weeks or two months. Upon which he interrupted me and said that they were satisfied the Scots were able to do a great deal but that they must have assurances from England, but at the same time he said he did not well understand the possibility of engaging so many people without letting them into the secret. Upon which Lord Semple explained the matter to him, I then mentioned to him the number of men, arms, etc., we expected in Scotland together with the place of their landing and method proposed for their acting he said if things were gone into there would be no difficulty of arms, money, etc., but seemed to be ignorant as to the place of landing or indeed the particulars of the scheme and which confirmed me in this; some things that L[ord] Semple mentioned to him he knew nothing about and he owned he had not read the memorials but promised to do it and gave us to understand that nothing could be undertaken without encouragement from the English and assurances of the troops upon their landing having provisions of victuals and carriages which we took pains to show him that from the frequency of the touns upon the coast and the trade there continually carried on they could not fail of, and then told me he had not gott time to talk seriously and fully with the King, but that his Majesty desired him to assure me he had the King my master’s interest very much at heart and so soon as he could do it safely and with his Honour, he would; and told us to believe it that he could easily loss 10,000 men, but that he would not undertake it rashly as his being foiled in a thing of this kind would not be consistant with the Honour of his Crown and desired we might think very seriously of what we was about and take care not to bring ruin upon ourselves and the Country by a[Pg 14] rash attempt,[133] and so we parted and so we came that same night to Paris.

Next day I again wrote to the King a few lines wherein I told him I thought Mr. Amalot had done as much as he could at the present juncture and that I thought the information I had gott was well worth my while of coming over and sure enough it merited the journey, for by this I had it in my power to assure our friends in Scotland there was no determinate Resolution taken; and at the same time the manner in which Mr. Drummond told me he had taken to engage the Highland Gentlemen seemed to me very good and practicable. As I was then but little acquainted with business imagined it might have the same effect upon these in the Low Country and indeed was so much prevented with the good character of L[ord] Semple and Mr. Drummond had amongst those concerned in his Majesty’s affairs in Scotland that it never came into my head to doubt of anything they advanced; in which opinion I partly remained till my L[ord] T[ra]q[uai]r’s return to Scotland in Octr. 1743 that same year.[134]

[Pg 15]

From what Mr. Amelot had told us the next thing to be done was endeavouring to form a Concert in England, by which they might be able to give such encouragement to the French and such assurance of joining upon their landing together with victuals and carriages as might then oblidge the King to declare one way or other. To execute this Mr. Drummond and I sett out from Paris the end of Febuary and gott to London by the way of Dover in four days and a half. The method he proposed was to bring my L[ord] T[ra]q[uai]r to London and to work the point by him as he was acquainted with all the principal Torries and desired I would go to York and gett the D[uke] of P[erth] to send express for him and that I would return with a Resolution to stay there for some time to be an assistant to his L[ordship] and him; but this I refused to go into as the reason I had given out for my journey would not suffice to detain me any time, so rather chuse to go to Scotland myself and shew my L[ord] T[ra]q[uai]r the necessity there was for his coming up. In the meanwhile I was employed in endeavouring to learn from Coll. Cicel and Mr. Smith[Pg 16] the objections the Dutches of Buckingham and her party had to L[ord] Semple, and as I was pretty well acquainted with them both I easily made myself master of all they had to say against him, which I then thought quite frivolous from the favourable notion I had of L[ord] Semple. As to the particular accusations laid against him I shall say nothing of them here as I shall put down the Copy of a letter I had the Honour to write to the King some litle time after my arrival in Scotland wherein I mentioned them all.

I sett out from London[135] the 18th of March, came in by York, where I saw the D[uke] of P[erth] who was much disappointed upon what I told him, stayed 24 hours there and came to Edinburgh the 21st. I immediately inquired for L[ord] T[ra]q[uai]r and finding he was in Perthshire with his brother-in-law L[ord] J[ohn] D[rummon]d I sent an Express to him, in the meantime I mett with L[ochie]l and acquainted him of all that had passed and particularly of the Scheme he proposed to raise money whereby to pay his father-in-law’s pension; he was far from being pleased with the French delays and not satisfied with the Cardinal’s sincerity and likewise heartyly vexed there was no money for Sir J[ames] who then stood in great need of it. However the only thing to be done was for L[ord] T[ra]q[uai]r to go to London and endeavour to bring in the English which[Pg 17] would in a little time satisfie us whether the French really intended us their assistance or not. On the 16th of the month L[ord] T[ra]q[uai]r came to toun, to whom I told all that had passed and his Lordship agreed to go to London. Upon conversing with his Lordship[136] I told him that he ought to push Mr. Drummond’s getting that money, for if he did not make his word good in that trifle it would be a means to make folk doubt all the other things he had advanced. His Lordship sett out from his own house on the Sixth of Aprile and I sent the bond Mr. Drummond desired signed by L[ochie]l and I to the D[uke] of Perth who signed it likewise and sent it to L[ord] T[ra]q[uai]r[137] at London, which is still in Mr. D[rummon]d’s Custody, but no money raised during my being at London after my return from Paris, Mr. C. Smith delivered me a packet from Rome, but as its contents[Pg 18] could not be obeyed till I came home, thought it more proper to insert it here tho’ posterior to the Receit of it.

Copy of a letter from Mr. Edgar of ... mber the 22nd, 1742.

Edgar to Murray

Sir,—Upon what Mr. Charles Smith has told me from you on the subject of the Bishops[138] upon what he says himself and as the opinion also of other friends the King has thought seriously on the matter and is pleased to settle it as you proposed, as you will see by the enclosed paper signed by him under another name and a letter from me to Bishop Ratrae;[139] yours covering it both are write in closs Cypher, but as I am unwilling that the Cyphers we use together should be put into any third hand whatsoever, I have wrote the enclosed packet by the Cypher Coll. Urquhart[140] informed me he had recovered from amongst the late Earl of Dundonald[141] papers before his death. I really look upon this Cypher to be a safe one and that there is no Copy of it but what you and I have, it was originally sent to Mr. Robert Freebairn[142] and he gave to the Earl of Dundonald and I am perswaded neither the one nor t’other made a Copy of it which would not be an easie task nor allowed any to be made by any other body, I remmember Coll. Urquhart after he had recovered that Cypher asked me if he should send it to me, or what he should do with it, and in return I desired him to keep it by him and give to the King’s friends who had a mind to write to his Majesty and wanted a Cypher to do it by, by which means the new one I sent him (now used by you and me) would be a Virgin One unseen and untouched by anybody, I thought it was[Pg 19] necessary to say thus much to you on the Cypher in Question. The Packet I now send you is open, therefore may if you please look into it yourself, but as I reckon you wont care to be at the trouble to decypher it I wish you would seal the packet and deliver it with ... of the Cypher into Mr. Rattrae’s own hands. I shall only add on this subject that I know I need not recommend to you to take care of your own safety in this matter and that as few as possible and these only of whom you are sure know anything that we have the least dealing in it, for tho’ our Clergy be well meaning honest men, yett many of them have not the gift of Secrecy and holding their tongue, which is a mischief I am sure you will guard against. I don’t know indeed what to say to you on certain affairs, I live in good hopes they will still go well, when anything favourable is certain you will hear of it much sooner from Bahady and L[ord] Semple than you could from me; which is the reason I write so seldome to you, I am unwilling to venture a letter in this critical juncture unless when necessary as it happens in the present case. I should be glad you informed me of what you heard or know of Drumelzier’s[143] brother he has not write to me since he mett with his brother and I have heard nothing about him since he went home. Drumelzier, I fancy, may have told him the substance of what you communicated to him of my letter to you concerning him, which he may have taken very ill of me and which has made him write no more to anybody in this place. The family is well and the King charges me with many kind compliments to you. Longing to have you in my Arms. I am well all with my heart.—Sir, etc.

It was not long after his Lordship’s departure that I[Pg 20] had an occasion to send a letter to Rome when I wrote as below.[144]

Mr. Narsom’s letter to Mr. Edgar dated the     Day of     1743.[145]

Murray to Edgar

This is the first opportunity I had to write since I left Paris otherwise you may beleive I would not have failed to lett you hear from me long e’er now. I received yours of the 22nd of Novr. from Mr. Smith at London but as Mr. Rattrae has not been in town not finding any sure hand the two enclosed papers are still in my Custody, but I am informed he intends soon in this place, when I shall take care to deliver them with the Cypher; I am very hopefull his Majesty’s making choise of him will prove a means of uniting them together as they have for some time ago addressed him as the eldest of the Colledge to take inspection of the Diocess during the Vacancy; I return you my most sincere acknowledgements for your good advice as to my Behaviour with them which you may depend upon I’ll strickly follow and by what I wrote you of Mr. Keith’s[146] procedure you will be still more convinced of the Necessity I am under to act cautiously with them. I understand my Lady Clanronald lately received a letter from L[ord] J[ohn] D[rummon]d with the contents of your last to me which was immediately told Keith so that Mr. Rattrae’s Election was known before my Arrival here. I am sorry L[ord] T[ra]q[uai]r should keep such correspondence but there are some people continue long young and consequently ought to be looked upon as Children.

Upon my return to London having the fortune to be[Pg 21] entirely trusted by Coll. Cicel and Mr. Smith, I made it my business to inform myself as particularly as possible of their grounds of Quarrel with L[ord] Semple, when I found they both agreed in the following Accusations, 1mo. That he had been employed by means of the Dutchess of Buccingham and Coll. Cicel to transack some little affairs and from that time had assumed to himself the Character of Minister for the King’s friends in England. 2d. That by his Behaviour to Or[mon]d and L[ord] Marshall he had entirely disobliged them whose friendship he ought by any means to have Cultivate. 3tio. He had been grossly deceived by the Cardinal who had made him believe twenty things he had no intention of Performing. 4to. He was so credulous in beleiving the Cardinal’s assertions as to write from time to time in terms only fitt some weeks before an invasion. 5to. He seemed to ack the part rather of a French than Brittish minister. 6to. He seemed to turn his politicks into a kind of Mechanicks and made a trade of them. 7to. He contradicted himself not only in a different but even in the same letter, by saying that the Cardinal was so well satisfied with the offers made him and the information he had gott that he desired no further and in the same letter advises Coll. Cicel still to inform him further so that he might determine the Cardinal more and more to act in his Majesty’s favours. 8to. He acted imprudently by transmitting to Coll. Cicel the Commissions sent him by the King to dispose of in so large a Packet that Mr. Smith could not conceal them in the Ship and at the same time wrote a long letter with a great many trifles of what had passed betwixt him and the Cardinal in Closs Cypher who, he insinuate, he entirely managed and all relating to the Commissions in plain English. 9to. His coming over was not only without the knowledge of but disagreeable to the King’s friends in England, that my L[ord] Barramore[147] and he were vastly uneasy about it and gave him all the Civil[Pg 22] usage and fair Words they could in Prudence so as to make him leave the place least he should be taken up. 10to. He is not trusted by the King’s friends in England. 11to. He was not even trusted by the Cardinal notwithstanding he pretended he had so much to say with him and given this instance that he, the Cardinal, sent a proposal to the King’s friends by Mr. Bussie[148] at London of landing a body of Swedes[149] in the Country which he seemed greatly surprised at when told by L[ord] Barrimore and that he should afterwards have greatly repented telling him, imagining when he went over he would make a handle of this information to show how he was trusted by the[Pg 23] English. 12to. That Coll. Cicel told him at parting that provided the Cardinal was explicite he would inform him of everything that was necessary but as he saw that was not like to be the case he never had wrote him anything which was sufficient to show him he was not trusted and that he and L[ord] Barrimore particularly complained of L[ord] Semple’s intruding himself into the management of their affairs, and Lastly that he was quite drunk with his ministerial office and acted so high and mightily a part as even to intermiddle betwixt the King and Dutchess of Buckingham. These so far as I can remember are the sum of their Accusations, which I could have reduced into the compass of a few lines were it not I thought it my duty to write in as plain and minute a manner as possible whatever I have learnt having an Eye to nothing but truth and to give the King all the information in my power so that if I have acted out of my sphere I hope you will interceed for my forgiveness. I only beg leave to say that from the little knowledge I have of L[ord] Semple I take him to be a man of great honour and possessed of much greater abilities than any of his Accusors.[150]

I parted with L[ord] T[ra]q[uai]r about a fortnight ago when he sett out for London with a view to bring the English to Concert matters so as to be able to act this summer. The Gentlemen of the Concert are highly dissatisfied with their behaviour they say they have been ready to act for some years past, putt to a great expense in Cultivating a friendship and intimacy with their Vassals, keeping a great many otherwise useless fellows in their Grounds and often obliged to give very advantagious [terms] to their tennants for fear of disobliging them, whereas on the other hand they, the English, do nothing but make a noise and complain of their Oppression.

The situation of things are such at present that had they any Resolution att all they would almost without stroke of[Pg 24] sword putt an end to the cause but in place of that they draw a cross one another and run into little political partys so that if they are not brought to engage heartyly so as to be able to act this summer we give up all hopes of ever bringing them to act in Concert with us. Had the King’s friends in a body used means to favour the Restoration they could not have done it to better purpose than the present Government. There are now 16,000 men out of the Country, 6 Regiments more partly gone, the rest going, only about twenty thousand in England[151] nine parts of ten of which are as raw and undisciplined as those to come against them, The Duke of Hannover[152] going over and in short every soul—Whigg and Torry, Republican, etc.,—disobliged and irritated to the last degree, so that we to be sure are able to do more of ourselves at this juncture then we could do with the assistance of 10000 men were these Troops returned.

L[ochie]l with whom I have Occasion often to talk on this subject gives it as his Opinion that the Highlanders have now for so long time been in hopes of something being done and now seeing so fair an Opportunity, will probably unless brought into Action once this Summer or harvest give up all thought of ever seeing a Restoration and he is afraid every one will do the best they can by endeavouring to catch at part of his Country before she sink entirely and I am really affraid it will be the case with some of the least steady amongst them. He is thoroughly convinced that with 20,000 Stand of arms his Majesty or the Prince with a good General and some Officers att our head, Scotland is well able to do the whole affair, and indeed it is not only his, but the opinion of several others I talk to in this place upon that subject, as in this case none would be exempt from carrying arms and things are now quite changed from what they were formerly when[Pg 25] a simelar proposal[153] was made. This I could not fail acquainting you with least L[ord] T[ra]q[uai]r’s journey[Pg 26] don’t take effect and this irrecoverable opportunity lost by the further delay of the English, and indeed any delay may prove of the worst consequence as the death of either L[ord] L[ova]t or Sir J[ames] C[ampbell] who are both old men will greatly weaken if not entirely ruin the Concert as there are few to be found who can fill their places. L[ochie]l desires me to mention the great use General Keith would be off. The Highlanders having got the same notion of him they formerly had of Lord Dundee. Drumelzier and his Brother have been all this winter at Tangiers and propose to pass all the Watters where General Keith and Lord Crawford[154] were tho’ some people imagine D[rumelzier] will come home upon account of his Lady’s death,[155] they give it out here that Mr. Hay is very well. I wrote a letter two weeks ago to L[ord] Marshall a Copy of which with the Motives that induced me to write you shall have first occasion but the bearer being ready to sett out putts a stop to my doing of it at present.—I am, Yours, etc.

The ship not sailing as soon as I was made believe I took the opportunity of writing Mr. Edgar the reason of my writting to L[ord] Marshall I shall here subjoin with a Copy of the Letter I wrote his Lordship.

Murray to Edgar

Sir,—When Mr. Smith and I happened to be frequently together at London he took reason to complain of the letter my L[ord] Semple had wrote to L[ord] Marshall and particularly of that paragraph where my L[ord] hints that possibly the Scots folks were offended with my L[ord] Marshall not taking sufficient notice of them in proportion to the regard they had shown him he insisted greatly an invincible attachment his Lordship had for the King....

The rest of this page not legible.

[Pg 27]

Upon this I thought I should be greatly to blame if I lost any opportunity that occurred to better his Majesty’s affairs by endeavouring to reconceal and unite his friends so that as I imagine his Lordship authorised Mr. Smith to talk upon a suspicion that there might be some grounds for what L[ord] Semple advanced and thereby to reconceal himself to his countrymen I was resolved as we say to putt a Thorne in his foot as he knows I am instituted by the King’s friends here and would not advance anything contrary to their Sentiments. You will be surprised I should write this to you in so closs a Cypher....

The rest of this page not legible.

After reflecting upon what you had been so good as to inform me off I could not fail to write the enclosed as I have all the reason in the World to believe you my friend, so I take the liberty to beg that after perusal in case you find it not too assuming and in a stile sufficiently respectly you will be so good as take the trouble to deliver it with an appology.... [Not legible.]

(Signed) J. Broun.[156]

Murray to Earl Marischal[157]

My Lord,—I heartyly regreted it was not in my power when so near as London to do myself the honour of waiting upon your Lordship for Reasons I beg Mr. Smith to give and at the same time assure your Lordship that without the honour of being known to you there was none who had a more hearty and sincere Regard for your Lordship’s property.... [Not legible.] my Lord, abstracting from your many private Virtues makes you dear to every true Scotsman and from what I could easily learn gives your Lordship great weight with the English. This, my Lord, encourages me to suggest of what use you may be att this juncture to his Majesty’s affairs by uniting those people together who to my great concern I found (so far as I could judge) quite inactive,[Pg 28] diffident of one another and distrustfull of those they employ. Your Lordship’s being so near them will I hope make the work short as well as Effectual, and in my poor Judgement were there any unanimity, any harmony and concord amongst them it would easily be in our power to shake off the yoke of Bondage and Slavery we now groan under; this, my Lord, I propose with great submission to your Lordship’s serious reflection and experience, I shall only add that as I have no other in any thing I do but to promote the real Interest of my King and Country so I have all the reason in the world to believe that healing the wounds and cementing the differences now subsisting amongst our Neighbours is the greatest ambition of our countrymen and must render their gratitude to your Lordship for so great a work unalterable. I begg your Lordship will pardon my presumption in writing without being asked and believe I am with the most sincere regard and esteem, My Lord, etc.[158]

These two preceding letters I gave to my L[ord] T[ra]q[uai]r on the 5th of Aprile 1743, the day before his Lordship sett out from his own house to London which he was to show Mr. McGregar who told my Lord that this was not a time to send such letters and besides that the letter to Lord Marshall was not such an one he proposed, by which means they never went. I shall here mention what occurred to me what was the reason for Mr. McGregars stoping them never having any further reason given than the above and not knowing even that till L[ord T]raq[uai]r’s return to Scotland, during the short stay I made att London after my return from Paris in company with Mr. McGregar as I said before I made it my business to learn of Coll. Cicel and Mr. Smith all the Complaints they[Pg 29] had against Lord Semple and Mr. McGregar which I generally communicated to him being then fully perswaded of their Honesty and Abilitys. Upon telling him what Mr. Smith had said in relation to Lord Marshall he purposed I should write to his Lordship a Letter in the same Stile Lord Semple had done, purposely to let him know how little he was in favour with his Countrymen and show him how much their liking depended upon his being well with them two, and att the same time to acquaint him that his Countrymen’s regard went no further than so far as he should act entirely conformable to the King’s will, he saying that Lord Marshall pretended to stand entirely upon his own legs from the great Number of Admirers he had in Scotland, and imagined that unless he was the sole manager of the King’s affairs his Majesty’s subjects would not be brought to act for him, in short that he looked upon the King’s interest to depend upon [him] alone. I suppose he thought by my writing in this stile to draw something from Lord Marshall undervalueing of his Countrymen whereby to hurt him with the generality but particularly with those of the Concert who had first employed and still supported him, whereby he might verify to them what he had so long advance against his Lordship, but this was a thing I refused for many reasons; first that it must hurt the King’s affairs to create differences amongst his friends of which their then subsisted too many; secondly it was running myself headlong into a party quarrel, a thing I ever had the worst oppinion off; and thirdly, not to be too tedious in giving many more, it was a thing I had not the smallest tittle to do. But on the contrary I thought it was a fair opportunity of uniting people together and commencing a Correspondence with Lord Marshall whereby if I gain his friendship and confidence I [should] thereby be enabled to inform the King of the pleas of both partys without letting either of them know of it, which is acting a part some people may think odd as it is seemingly playing with both hands, but in my Eyes not only honourable but my duty, when for the King’s interest, I receive from time to time letters from[Pg 30] L[ord] T[ra]q[uai]r when att London informing me in his way of his success with the English; but as there was nothing material in them and that they were signed by himself I did not care to keep them in case of accidents. Some time in the month of June I received the following letter from Mr. Edgar with two enclosed from the King himself in answer to two I had wrote when at Paris.

Copy Mr. Edgar’s letter, dated March 14th, 1743.

Edgar to Murray

Sir,—You will see by the enclosed I send you from our friend Mr. Edwards (he means the King) that he leaves me nothing to say in return to your two letters of the 18th and 25th of february. This Packet is sent open to Lord Semple to forward to you, you will see it is write in his Cypher, a Copy of which I know Mr. McGregor left with L[ord] T[ra]q[uai]r so I reckon you may easily gett this read, for suppose you may have that Cypher in your own Custody. You will be glad to know that the family is well, I heartyly wish you all health and happiness and longing to have the pleasure of Embracing you, I am with great Esteem, etc.

Letter from the Chevalier to John Murray.

The Chevalier de St. George to Murray

I received a few days ago yours of the 18th of February and am far from disaproving your comming into France att this Time.[159] The Settling of a Correspondence betwixt us on this Side of the Sea and our friends in Scotland may be of consequence in this juncture I hope you will have concerted some safe method for this effect with Lord Semple before you leave him and that once determined you will I think have done very well to return home where you may be of more use than abroad. I shall say nothing here of what’s passing in France of which you will have been informed by Lord Semple, and you may be well[Pg 31] assured that depends upon me to induce the French to assist us as is reasonable to hope they will if their be a general war. But if they ever undertake anything in my favour, I shall to be sure have little warning of it before and by consequence I fear it will be impossible that General Keith can come in time into Scotland how much soever both I, and I am perswaded himself also, desires it because you will easily see that one of his rank and distinction cannot well quite the Service he is in either abruptly or upon an uncertainty. I remark all you say to me on that subject and when the time comes it shall be my care to dispose all such matters in as much as in me lys for what I may then think for the real good of my Service and for my friends Satisfaction also for in such sort of particulars it is scarce possible to take proper Resolutions before the time of Execution. I had some time ago a proposal made me in Relation to the Seizing of Stirling Castle[160] what I then heard and what you now say on that subject is so general, that I think it is not impossible but that the two proposals may be found originally one and the same project; I wish therefore you would enter a little more into particulars that I may be the better able to determine what directions to send. As to what is represented about the Vassals I suppose what you mean is the same with what I have inserted in a draught of a Declaration for Scotland I have long had by me, viz., That the Vassals of those who should appear against my forces on a landing should be freed of their Vassalidge and hold immediately of the Crown provided such Vassals should declare for me and join heartyly in my Cause. As this is my intention I allow my[Pg 32] friends to make such prudent use of it as they may think fitt. Before you gett this you will probably have received what was wrote to you from hence about the Scotts Episcopal Clergy so that I need say nothing on that subject here more than that I hope the steps taken by me will give satisfaction and promote union in that Body.

It is a great comfort to me to see the Gentlemen of the Concert so zealous so united and so frank in all that relates to my service and I desire you will say all that is kind to them in my name, I remark you have advanced one hundred pounds of your own money[161] for Sir J[ames] C[ampbe]ll which I take very well of you but I desire you would not give me any more proofs of that kind of your goodwill towards me and as for what is past I look upon it as a personal Debt and shall take care that it be repayed, I remark what you say about the difficulty their is of raising money I foresaw that would be no easy matter and think it should not be insisted upon, I think I have now taken notice of all that required any answer in what you wrote to me and Edgar and shall add nothing further here but to assure you of the continuance of any good opinion of you and that your prudent and zealous indeavours toward my service shall never be forgott by me.

(Signed) J. Edwards.[162]

Dated March 11th, 1743.

At the same time came the following:—

The Chevalier to Murray

Since I wrote to you on 11th I have seen what you wrote to Edgar of the same date; I remark what you say on extending a Concert in the Low Country and the Method[163] it has been done in the Highlands such a measure[Pg 33] may be a great advantage to the cause and therefore I cannot but much approve of it, provided it be gone about with great prudence and Caution, which I earnestly recommend to you not only on your own account but mine also, for we must in this juncture carefully avoid[Pg 34] anything that may give the Government any jealousie or pretence to molest our friends. I am well pleased to observe what you say of L[ochie]l and if you have occasion make him a kind Compliment from me and the Prince, this is all I have to add or present in this paper.

Signed as befor and dated 14th, 1743.

In the first letter I wrote to Mr. Edgar after my return home I told him that the Packet for Bishop Rattrae was still in my Custody being informed that he intended to be soon in town so thought it fitt to delay doing any thing in it till he should come, accordingly whenever I heard of his arrival I went immediately to the Country where the Cypher Mr. Edgar mentioned there was, and brought it to town with me but to my Surprise found it did not answer. Yett I nevertheless resolved to deliver the Packet to him att the same time reading the paragraph in mine concerning it so sent for Mr. Rae[164] one of the Presbyters in Edinburgh and told him I wished to see Mr. Rattrae and desired he would go to him and acquaint him with my intention and make an appointment for me which he agreed to do next mourning. He came to me on the morrow and told me had missed him but would indeavour to find him sometime that day upon which he left me and found him dinning with his daughter Mrs. —— so delayed it till next morning, but when he went was informed by his daughter Mrs. Clark in whose house he lived that he had been taken ill the night before of an Epidimical Distemper that at that time raged almost all of over Europe of which he died in three or four days illness, by which means that Packet still remains in my Custody, never since having gott any directions about it. From that time I have keept my Resolution of never having any more to do with the Clergy, for when I was asked some few days after by Mr. Rae what I thought they should do in their present situation, I told him I thought they should draw up a full and distinct state of their [affairs][Pg 35] without neglecting the least thing and send it to the King leaving him to determine without any further representations, but shunned writting or taking any Commissions about it, nor do I since know any of their procedure none of them having ever spoke to me on the subject.

About this Time the Duke of P[erth] came from England and as L[ochie]l and [I] had often Schemed together what we ourselves were able to do in the present posture of affairs and seemed to agree in Opinion that should the french disapoint us we were more able to restore the King by our own strength during the absence of the Army than with the Assistance of 10,000 men were our Troops once returned, for which reason did the English fail to give the assurances to the french they required, but we should gett the people at home to take it in hand by themselves. With this View I had already wrote Mr. Edgar on that Strain and now we agreed to sound the Duke of P[erth] on the same Subject which we did and found him abundantly forward. He was then going to the Country and Sir A[lexander] Mc[Donal]d[165] was with his brother-in-law A[irl]y so desired the Duke would try him and some days after had a letter from hime wherein he said that he had spoke to him as was agreed and found him very keen that he said the sooner it was done the better and in place of 700 men which his Uncle carried with him in the year 1715 he would now bring 1200. At the same time when his Grace was talking to us in Edinburgh on this subject he said the people in that part of the Country where he had come from very honest and that the Mayer and Aldermen had spoke to him in the strongest terms, which he then told us, and desired I might acquaint the King of it, so I desired his Grace would putt it in writting and that I should not fail to transmit it to his Majesty; upon which he went to another room and brought me a sheet[Pg 36] of paper mostly write which I did not care to transmitt in his own words but abridged it; however shall say no more of it here as I will putt down the letter I wrote the King and another to Mr. Edgar. I must only observe that I read the Duke’s memorial to my L[ord] T[ra]q[uai]r att his own house upon giving him some paper he had putt in my custody att his leaving Scotland, at which time his Lordship and I agreed to put it in the fire as the letter I had wrote and which I att the same time read to my Lord contained the substance of it, this I have frequently repented since, as his Grace’s memory did not seem to serve him exactly to what he had wrote. In answer to his Majesty’s I wrote the following, Dated July 5th, 1743:—

Murray to the Chevalier

Sir,—I had the honour of your Majesty’s commands some weeks ago of the 11th of March. I communicated the paragraph of your Majesty’s relating to the certainty of General Keith’s coming to Scotland to the Duke of P[erth] and L[ochie]l who are equally well satisfied with what your Majesty is pleased to say on that subject. Your Majesty’s Declaration with regard to the Scotts Vassals and the Liberty you are most graciously pleased to grant of insinuating so much to them give L[ochie]l extream pleasure being convinced it will tend greatly to promote your Majesty’s interest. The Duke of P[erth] desired me to acquaint your Majesty that the Mayer and Aldermen of York had freely opened their minds to him on the Subject of the Restoration and gave him a Commission humble to Represent their Loyalty and firm attachment to your Majesty’s cause. They engage that upon hearing of your Majesty’s aproach with a Sufficient Body to support them they will raise 10,000 men in that County and have no doubt of an equal Number from the Countys Adjacent. There are two gentlemen one of them a present member the other was last parliament but declined it these have the Sole management of the County and did they appear would certainly be followed by every one in it. His Grace had not the good fortune to see[Pg 37] them they being at London but left them his Compliments by some of their friends who assured him they were ready upon your Majesty’s desire to enter into any Scheme to promote your Majesty’s interest. His Grace desired me likewise to inform your Majesty that he is fully convinced and may almost affirm that upon shewing an order from your Majesty to treat with them they will sign any declaration or assurance of whatever Nature shall be thought most for your Majesty’s interest and to have the Mayer and Aldermen, at least those of them upon whose Secrecy they can the most depend to do the like. In the Duke’s Memorandum to me he neglected the two Gentlemen’s names. As the Election of their Mayer goes by Rotation it falls next year upon a Whig which his grace thinks can be of no consequence as none of that Kidney have any Interest, in the town, but he was told that notwithstanding the custom, if your Majesty desired it they would indeavour to have another chosen. I shall incroatch no further upon your Majesty’s time having wrote to Mr. Edgar but beg leave to subscribe myself with the greatest Veneration and Duty your Majesty’s, etc.

Letter to Mr. Edgar, dated July 5th, 1743.

Murray to Edgar

Since I had the pleasure of receiving your last letter the Duke of P[erth] returned from York after having gott a very possitive and harsh Refusall from the Lady to whom he was making his addresses, during his stay there he had some commissions from the Mayer and Aldermen to the King with which I had the honour to acquaint the King by the enclosed amongst others they begged he might offer their humble Duty and assure him of their unalterable Regard to his Interest. They intended to send his Highness the Duke[166] the freedom of their toun in a Gold Box as the highest mark of their regard for his Highness who does them the honour to bear the Name of their Town but being afraid least a discovery should be made by Workmen or others who would render them the less usefull[Pg 38] to his Majesty they must humbly beg his Highness would look upon the Compliment as real and Honour them with his Acceptance.

L[ochie]l and I spoke to the Duke upon the supposition we should obtain no assistance from France how far he thought it would be prudent at this juncture to undertake the King’s Restoration ourselves. Upon his Grace’s approving of the scheme, I proposed when he went to the Country he should talk to Sir A[lexander] M[acdonal]d upon the same, which he accordingly did, and sent an answer to L[ochie]l wherin he says that found him entirely of the same Opinion, that he seemed to think there was a necessity for it, and that it ought to be done as soon as possible and that in place of 700 men his Uncle brought with him in the year 1715 he would engage to bring 1200. I could not fail to acquaint you with his Opinion, he being the most reserved cautious man I ever knew, and the least apt to say or do anything rashly, everybody is of Opinion the Government designs by all methods to Ruin the Highlands which to be sure makes the Gentlemen fond to have something done before it be out of their power to be of service, especially as there are some of them whose Estates are so low such as G[lengar]ry C[lanranal]d A[p]p[i]n C[ap]p[oc]h that they will be obliged either to sell their lands or conform to the Government through necessity; and am very credibly[167] informed that Ca[p]p[oc]h was this Winter at London on a Scheme of raising an independent Company. Since Mr. Smith came to this place he has insisted with Lo[chie]l to go over to see Lord Marshall who he tells him has had several different accounts of the State of the Highlands so that he is very anxious to talk to him upon that head. L[ochie]l excuses himself from going but told me Mr. Smith supposed his Lordship was informed of everything by the King and that the State given in by Mr. Drummond was just he is certain; but now things are much better and that Mr.[Pg 39] Drummond rather erred in making the number too small[168] being determined to advance nothing but what he could answer for. I had a letter lately from my L[ord] T[ra]q[uai]r wherein he seems to hint that his Majesty’s friends in England are in a way of acting with more vigour and unanimity than they have hitherto done. I hope they are now become sensible of their weak and groundless prejudices against Lord Semple (a Catalogue of which I sent you in my last) as well as of the necessity there is to act Vigorously and Resolutely for his Majesty’s Restoration. It would seem L[ord] T[ra]q[uai]r and Mr. Drummond have not judged it fitt to send my letter to L[ord] Marshall (a Copy of which I sent you in my last) for I have never had the smallest hint of it from Mr. Smith neither has L[ord] T[ra]q[uai]r taken occasion to mention it in any of his Letters to me. Upon Bishop Rattrae’s coming to town I went immediately to the Country for the Cypher when I found it did not in the least correspond to that Coll. Urquhart must certainly have been mistaken. I nevertheless resolved to deliver the letters att the same time showing him the paragraph in mine relative to him and to tell him the cause of the mistake, but this day I sent one of his Brethern to acquaint him that I would wait on him in the afternoon, he was abroad and the next day when I sent again found he was taken ill of a Pluirisy of which he died two days after[169] which to be sure is a very great misfortune and not the less so that Mr. Keith is now Senior Bishop, what they are now doing or intend to do I don’t know I have sent you the Cypher inclosed but retained the Letter till further Orders.

[Pg 40]

We had great rejoicings some days ago on account of a Battle said to be gained by the Allies in Germany,[170] but by latter Accounts, the Case seems to have been that the Army of the Allies had gott too far into the Country and finding a Scarcity of provisions (especially amongst the English) they resolved to return from whence they came when they were attacked by a body of French to the number of 25,000 or thereabouts, some write they intended to attack their rear and harrass them on their march, others they proposed intercepting 12,000 Hannoverians and Hessians that were on their march to join the Army, but whatever was their Intention they attacked our foot. Whereupon a very smart engagement ensued, wherein both partys seem to have suffered severely. The French repassed the river and we continued our march and are now gott near to frankfort where its said the Emperor is and talks of a Suspension of Arms I wish too good a peace may not ensue. You certainly cant help laughing when you consider with what Vigour and Success we carry on our war with Spain. Never was a poor Country in so miserable a Condition as we are in att present, neither Money nor Trade nor Credit, nay nor so much as the smallest degree of honour or Character left us. The Duke of P[erth]’s Stay here was so short that I could not gett him to explain his Scheme of Seizing Stirlling Castle, but I wont neglect the first opportunity to have it from him. I am Still obliged to continue the old Cannal of Correspondence not being able while att London to find any Safe Conveyance from thence, but I hope Lord T[ra]q[uai]r will have effectuated that before his return; I have now write everything that occurrs to me I wish may not already have tired you.—So with hearty prayers for the familys wellfare and all friends with you and that we may soon meet on a Solid and happy footing, I beg that you would believe that I ever am, etc.

Dated July 5th, 1743.

[Pg 41]

P.S.—I had almost neglected to tell you that while I was att London I ordered a Countryman of ours to work Six pair of the finest Silk-Stockens he could possibly make, which as they are home manufactory and finest I believe were mad in the Island I have ventured to send them by Mr. Smith to Rome hoping the Prince will do his Country and me the honour to accept of them.

My Lord T[ra]q[uai]r having now been three months att London and we all that time receiving no Material accounts of Success things looked as if this Summer would be Spent as well as the former without any Resolution taken of coming to Blows in the Autumn or Winter which made all those of the concert very uneasy but particularly my Lord L[ova]t, so that he seemed to give up all hopes of the Schemes ever succeeding and wrote to L[ochie]l several Letters wherein he resolved to settle his affairs and go to London where, after he had sollicited an appeal he intended to lodge against Chisholm, he would then go over to France with his son. L[ochie]l was so good as show me the most of his Letters and from some things he said, but particularly a paragraph in one of them we had reason to conjecture he proposed to end his days in a Religious house; this we were the more easily induced to believe as his Lordship had now lived to a great age during the most of which he had acted a part in the world not looked upon by the Generality of Mankind in a favourable light. We therefore agreed that L[ochie]l Should write him dissuading him from his design but at the same time he seemed so positive that it was thought Necessary to acquaint the King of it as his Majesty’s orders appeared to us the only mean whereby to prevent his journey, knowing that his leaving the Country would be of the worst Consequence as there was not a man in that part of the Country capable to manage it but himself and in general that his appearing publickly in Arms for the King must be of great Service, for which Reasons the first Occasion that occurred I wrote to the King dated September 5th 1743:

[Pg 42]

Murray to the Chevalier

Sir,—I had the honour to write to your majesty the 5th of July last which I hope is come Safe. I have of late seen several Letters from Lord L[ovat] to L[ochie]l wherein he Express great Anxiety and impatience that things are not like to come to a conclusion. I take it to be upon that account that he has settled his affairs att home and is now taking leave of his friends with a Resolution of going this Winter to London there to solicite an appeal and from thence to France with his Son. Your Majesty will see at first View all the inconveniencys that may attend such a procedure more readily than I can express, he being the only man in the Country capable to manage that part of the Country alloted him, and indeed I am afraid from a paragraph in one of his Letters that he has some thoughts of Ending his days in a monastry Since he thinks he cannot do it in your Majestys Service. Affairs abroad seem now to tend more and more to a War with france which Should it happen will I hope putt a Stop to his journey, but failing that I am apt to believe nothing will do save your Majestys orders, etc.

To Mr. Edgar.

September 5, 1743.

Murray to Edgar

Sir,—I gave you the trouble of a pretty long Letter the fifth of July last, since which I have not had the pleasure of hearing from you. Lord T[ra]q[uai]r is still att London but proposes to be soon down here, which I heartily wish, some folks being vastly anxious for his return expecting upon that Event to be intirely satisfied as to what may be hoped for from the Kings friends in England. Upon the Highland deserters being shott att London,[171] which has[Pg 43] greatly disobliged their Countrymen, I took it upon me to acquaint some of the Gentlemen that it was his Majestys pleasure they should endeavour to prevent as much as possible any of their followers from inlisting in the Service of the present Government. This I thought the more necessary as a great many of them have been carried out of the Country for some years past, the Dutch having gott several hundreds upon their last Augmentation.[172] My Lord K[e]n[mur]e is returned from Portugall perfectly recovered. I said some obliging things to him in his Majestys Name of gaining the Cameronians (amongst whom he lived) to his Majestys Interest. I am very sensible what a fickle Sett of people they are and how difficult an undertaking of this kind may prove. Yett as Sir Th[oma]s G[ord][o]n of E[arls]t[o]n,[173] a leading man amongst them two years ago, spoke to the late Lord of the precarious Situation of the present Government, and in case of a Restoration begged his protection, this Lord seemed the fitter person to learn his present Sentiments. Your Friend Sir J[ames] S[tewar]t[174] who deservedly well liked by all his acquaintances is to be married to Lord W[emy]ss eldest daughter, a Match made by Lord E[lcho][175] who left this the beginning of Summer and I understand, is now at Boulogne, so that I had no opportunity to deliver the Compliments his Majesty and the Prince honour him with. I beg you will believe me, etc.

[Pg 44]

Some time in the month of August the Laird of Mc[Leo]d[176] came to Edinburgh and told L[ochie]l on his way here, who desired he might see him, and that he had several Commissions to us, so desired he would make an appointment with me. When L[ochie]l spoke to me of it I agreed to ride out with him on the Saturday to Peggie Vints where he proposed to dine and see a son of Lord L[ovat]s who was then at the School of Preston,[177] but we were both afraid from his saying that he had several Commissions that his Lordship had been too open with him, contrary to the engagement all these of the Concert had come under to one another; for which reason we resolved to be very cautious and determined, in case we found it as we suspected, to say nothing of it to him. We according mett, dined in the Country and adjurned to the Tavern in Edinburgh where we resolved to give him leave to say or ask as few questions as possible and took occasion to speak a good deal on the present miserable Situation of the Country, and tell him that we thought him one of the fittest Persons we knew to instigate the English to join heartily for promoting the Kings interest, being both a highland man and one of power in the Country;[Pg 45] and at the same time told him it was his Majestys pleasure that the Chiefs of the Clans should allow none of their men to leave the Country. To which he answered that he and Sir A[lexander] Mc[Donal]d had taken care to let none of theirs inlist, and said a good deal of his readiness to serve the King so soon as an occasion should offer, and that he had already during his being att London made it his business to incite and encourage the English to every thing that cou’d conduce to his Majestys interest; and as to Lord L[ova]ts commissions, they turned out only to inquiring about Lord T[ra]q[uai]r and what news or good hopes he had. From this time nothing passed worthy the noticeing, I had some compliments from Lord L[ova]t in his letters to L[ochie]l wherein he acquainted him with the success he had in a Circuit he made over the Country and then gott a Letter or two from himself on these subjects and desiring his Majesty might be acquainted with it and at the same time saying he was resolved to continue at Home in expectation of something satisfactory upon my Lord T[ra]q[uai]r’s return. Upon this I wrote the following Letter to Mr. Edgar, dated October 28th, 1743.

Murray to Edgar

Sir,[178]—I has the pleasure of writing to you the fifth of[Pg 46] last moneth with one inclosed to his Majesty, which makes me give you the trouble of this to acquaint you that upon L[ochie]ls repeated Letters to Lord L[ovat] together with Copys of my Lord T[ra]q[uai]rs from London which I sent him, he is determined not to stir from home this Winter. I should be greatly to blame did I neglect to inform you that his Lordship has been most assiduous this Summer to promote his Majestys Interest in his district so that I have great reason to believe that he is sure of all those he engaged for. He seems to be in great spirits upon account of his success in his Circuit he lately made over the Country when he gained most of the Monroes,[179] a people as little to have been expected as any in the Highlands. He keeps an open table by which means he is become very popular, and I believe, generally speaking, has more to say than any in that Country. L[ochie]l is still here expecting every day Lord T[ra]q[uai]rs arrival etc. His Lordship, to the best of my Remmembrance, came to Scotland sometime in the moneth when L[ochie]l and I immediately mett with him. He acquainted us that Mr. Drummond had left London a great while before him and promised so soon as he gott to Paris that the King of France and his ministers should be acquainted with the favourable accounts he had to give of his Success and that he would forthwith inform Lord T[ra]q[uai]r of every Resolution that was taken. His Lordship likewise told us what had passed during[Pg 47] his Stay at London, which I shall not pretend to give a particular detail of, having no authority to intermeddle with, nor ever had, any particular concern in what regarded the English; so shall leave it to his Lordship to give a particular account of his Negotiations in that Country, if he shall think it necessary. I shall only mention here that his Lordship informed us that he had talk’d with the principal people of the Tory party some of which were very timerous, others such as Lord Bar[rymo]re very ready to join in any thing that could conduce to forward the Restoration, and that he had frankly offered, when they proposed a sum of Money to be ready to the Value of £12,000 which was scrupled at by some, to provide it himself. That Lord O[rre]ry[180] I had made two several apointments with him and Mr. Drummond, neither of which he keept, but Stept out of Town without Seeing of them. But I must observe that from all I can Remmember of the Story no particular Concert was formed nor was their any appearance given the french of meeting with provisions, Carriages and horses att their landing, as Mr. Amalet proposed at Versails; for to the contrary when         was spoke to who lived in the neighbourhood of where they proposed to land, concerning the providing of these several Necessary he said he had no Idea that any thing had been so suddenly designed for the King, so could make no promises. Mr. Butler, the Gentleman sent over by the King of France to enquire into the Situation of the Country, was introduced by his Lordship to the most of the people. He knew and was sent to the Country to a meeting at Litchfield Races there to meet with Lord B[arrymor]e, Sir W[atkin Williams] W[ynn][181] where he was with about 80 or more gentlemen all of them but one reckoned honest people, which to be sure gave a good aspect to the party in general; but nevertheless I don’t see he went away with such a[Pg 48] satisfactory account as Mr. Amalet seemed to require. He assured my Lord he had several Instructions from the King himself, but I wish his principall Errand may not have been to purchase horses with a View to the Kings equipage for the insuing Campaign, he having bought to the value of 3 or 4000£. This reflection may seem harsh but I cannot reconcile their bestowing that sum upon horses for which he said they had no Occasion only by a way of blind and not allowing the prince not above one half of it for a whole years expences, and I don’t think it would be just to argue in opposition to it that they then knew nothing of the Campaign his Majesty intended to make. The french are rather too far sighted not to allow them to design so short a while as some moneths before hand. In short from his Lordships return till the moneth of february we had no Letters from france. In the interim L[ochie]l went to the Highlands when he acquainted Sir J[ames] C[ampbell] and Lord L[ova]t with all yt had passed and that we soon expected the french would come to a final determination one or tother. We spent the time greatly shagerin’d, vex’d to have no Accounts of any kind considering that Mr. Drummond promised at his leaving London in Company with Mr. Butler to write over immediately. Att last we received two letters, one inclosing another Copy, of which I shall insert Copy of Mr. Drummonds Letter to the Earl of T[ra]q[uai]r, dated ...

** ** *

After I had made this answer with the Consent and advice of the Duke of P[erth] and was signed by them, the nixt day being Ash Wedensday[182] his Grace resolved to leave the place being apprehensive that as the newspapers were there very full of the french preparations he might be suspected and seized and so not in his power to appear when any thing came to be done. My Lord T[ra]q[uai]r, att whose Lodgings I had the Honour to meet his Grace that mourning, was very much against[Pg 49] his leaving the place in such a hurry, and on that day especially. I likewise took the Liberty to remonstrate to him a little against it but all to no purpose and he accordingly sett out about Eleven O Clock and went that night the Length of Dumblain. This was immediately looked upon by the people of the Government with a very jealous Eye and the more so that his Brother Lord J[oh]n had come to Scotland some little time before upon a Scheme of raising a Scots Regiment for the french Service, stayed only ten days or little more at Edinburgh and went from that to the Highlands to solicite the Gentlemen there to be assisting to him in making his Levies. It unluckily hapened for the Duke that upon the back of Lord J[oh]ns going to the Country the Government began to be alarmed with the Accounts of the Princes being come to france and the intended invasion in his Majestys interest which made our little Ministers conjecture that Lord J[oh]n had been sent over with the accounts of it to the Highlands and consequently that the Duke had left the town with an intention to foment an insurrection in the Country. This was made no secret of, being publickly talked of immediately upon the Duke disappearing two days, so after his leaving the town a servant of his was dispatched to London with the Letter I had wrote to Mr. Drummond their being no other means of conveiying one to him but by express, we not having any settled Cannal of Correspondence from hence there. This I think was about the 8th or 10th of february [1744]. My Lord T[ra]q[uai]r stayed some days in town after, designedly to create no suspicion.

In about a week or so after I went on a Sunday Evening to see Mr. H[a]y[183][184] who, when I was talking in a ludicrous way[Pg 50] of the paragraph in the papers about the manner in which his Highness had left Italy, he told me in a very serious way that it was no Joke and said that the sooner I went to the Country the better as my living quietly at home would give no suspicion to the Government, but if I stayed any time in town he did not know what might happen, that upon his honour he had not heard me mentioned, which perhaps was owing to my near Relation with him, but that att that same time I was suspected to correspond with Rome. I told him I intended to stay some days longer in Town and would so soon as I had formerly proposed, that I had no cause of fear and so would not run away, and as to their suspecting my corresponding with Rome, that I laughed at but thanked him for his kind concern. I was not at all sorry to find they were so alarmed and afraid, which to me appeared a sure sign of their weakness, and indeed their fear for some days after increased to the most abject pusilanimity. His saying that he had not heard me mentioned was telling plainly that they had been consulting of who were the persons first to be laid hands; and I am apt to believe had the management of affairs been left to Lord Arniston,[185] Sir John Inglis,[186] Commissioner Arthburthnet[187] and the rest of the present Ministry there would have been little lenity shown any Body they had the least reason to suspect. But affairs were afterwards taken out of their hands and putt into these of Justice Clerks,[188] who tho’ as Violent a Whig yet not so hott and Violent a Man. I went next day, being Munday, in the morning to wait of General[Pg 51] Guest, who then Commanded in Chief in Scotland[189] with a View to hear what a Notion or Idea he had of matters. He told me that the Repeal of the Habeas Corpus Act was expected that night by the Post, but added that, was it come, upon his honour he did not know a man he suspected enough to lay up, which I was exceedingly well pleased with. Also att the same time I could have marked out a great many and the general seemed not in the least to be affraid and laughed att the hurry and confusion the other folks were. I was taken very ill that day after dinner and gave up thoughts of going to Mr. Hunters of Poolmood’s Burrial[190] which was to be on the Thursday, and I was desired out by the Widow on the tuesday, which evening about six O Clock Mr. Mc[Douga]ll[191] brought me a Letter directed to the Countess of T[ra]q[uai]r. As I was then expecting one every day from Mr. Drummond, as he had promised in his last, I began to suspect a little notwithstanding it had come by the Common Post, a very odd method of Conveyance. In such a critical juncture I opened it when I found a blank Cover and Still directed as before. This confirmed me in my suspicion and under that I found a Letter for my Lord which I immediately opened and tho’ partly in Cypher, could easily understand that things were directly to be putt in execution. This struck me a good deal as I said I would not go to the Country. However, I sent Mr. Mc[Douga]ll with directions immediately to sent the Letter off to Lord T[ra]q[uai]r and to desire D. C[     ]n[192] to come down as of no design and tell me I might go to the Country next[Pg 52] day if I pleased, which he accordingly did and hyrred a Chaise, not being able to ride. In the mean while Sir J. S[tewar]t came to see me, who I acquainted of it and att the same time wrote a Letter to Lord K[enmu]re who I had spoke to the Munday before, desiring him to meet me at T[ra]q[uai]r the thursday night as likewise one to Mr. J[oh]n Mc[leo]d[193] telling him I thought it would be fitt to send Sir J[ames] C[ampbe]lls son to the Highlands, who his father designed should serve him therein being assistant to raise the Country. I accordingly sett out next mourning for the Country and the day following Lord T[ra]q[uai]r mett me at Polmood and shewed me the Letter when decyphered which I shall here give a Copy off, and att the same time a Letter he had received the night before by express from Edinburgh telling him that their was a Warrant out to apprehend him which determined his Lordship to go immediately to the D[uke] of P[erth]. Upon which so soon as the Burrial was over we came to my house, where I wrote a Letter to Lord K[enmu]re desiring he would follow us next mourning to Hartrie[194] where we intended to sleep that night and sent it Express to T[ra]q[uai]r with other Letters of my Lords, expecting Lord K[enmo]re would be there that night, but he nevertheless continued the whole time in Edinburgh. We set out next day from Hartrie which was the fryday, that the french fleet was dispersed and the Transports run a Shore,[195] and the night after gott to Drummond Castle, from whence his Grace sent immediately an express with the Copy of the last Letter we received to L[ochie]l. We continued som weeks there always in Expectation to hear of a landing and in the mean time heard that several informations was given in against the Duke of Perth as having numbers of armed men about his house which was[Pg 53] absolutely false. At last a party of 150 foot and 30 Horse were sent from Stirling to make him Prisoner, but he had intelligence of it and went out of the way.[196] All this time Lord T[ra]q[uai]r was sculking about the Country having returned from the jaunt he had made over the Highlands.

After staying in that Country till the beginning of Aprile, without receiving any Accounts from abroad and giving up all hopes of a Landing, I left my Lord T[ra]q[uai]r there and came to Stirlingshire where I stayed about three weeks and so came to Edinburgh, and from that went to the Country the 11th of May. In the beginning of June, when Lord T[ra]q[uai]r returned, I went to wait of him, and being very uneasy to think we had received no accounts from Abroad, I said if I could afford the expence I would go over on pretence of seeing the Army in flanders and so see the Prince myself and learn distinctly what situation things were in. This his Lordship was well pleased with but I did not say anything positively, but upon Reflexion by the Road, I thought it was hard that people who had been for so long concerned in the Kings affairs and putt to so great Charge about it with the hazard of their Lives and fortunes should now be left in the dark as to every thing. Wherefore I resolved to do it, and next day wrote a Letter to my Lord telling him that if the Duke of P[erth] would give me a 100£ I would be att the rest of the expence myself and go over and in case his Lordship approved of it, he would be so good as meet me at Peebles on Saturday, which he did, and after talking with him I came home and sett out the same night about     O Clock and gott to Drummond [Castle] next afternoon. The Duke immediately agreed to the thing and gave me an order for the money. About this time came a letter from Lord Semple to Lord T[ra]q[uai]r by way of an account of their precedure in the Spring, which I went to T[ra]q[uai]r and assisted his[Pg 54] Lordship to decypher, but was so little to our satisfaction that my Lord still thought my going over more necessary than before. About this time I received a letter from St[uar]t of Ard[shie]ll,[197] telling me that he would have come to the Country to wait of me but his dress made him remarkable, being in Highland Cloaths, but as he had comed to Town purposely to meet with me, he hoped I would give him a meeting, and yt he had seen L[ochie]l lately. I went to town in a day or two after and dined with him. His Errand was to know of me if I had gott any Accounts lately, and what hopes I had. I did not think it att all proper to let him know any thing of my having seen such a letter as Lord Semple had wrote, nor indeed that any Accounts had come; for in that case he would have expected something positive. But I put him off by telling him I imagined the french were resolved to renew the Expedition soon and so friends did not care to write least any discovery should ensue, but could easily see that the Answer was not att all satisfactory. I returned that same night to the Country, and during a few days that I stayed, prepared for my journey.

N.B.—This is a fragment of a letter written by Mr. Murray to the Pretender soon after the miscarriage of the French Expedition.

Murray to the Chevalier

It was looked upon by some as certain, and thought necessary by all, that Mr. Watson[198] should come over, as he was the person who had gone through the whole Highlands and gott the engagements of the Several Gentlemen at his first leaving Scotland, and surely had any of them been so little as to flinch from what they engaged to him, he was the natural and indeed the only person that could have upbraided them into their Duty. My Lord says he could trust to no conveyance, and so could[Pg 55] not soonner give us any information your Majestys friend is here, upon Mr. D[rummond] not coming, expected immediately after the Embargo was taken of in france that some one or other would have been dispatched to our Coasts with an account of what had passed, and what was to be hoped for, that so we might have regulate our fortunes Conduct accordingly. The neglect of this, Sir, greatly surprises your Majestys friends in generall, and gives the Gentlemen in the concert a good deal of Umbrage, as they thereby think themselves slighted and neglected, whereas, they being the first promoters of the whole scheme, they humbly think entitled them to have the most expidetious information. His Lordship next supposes that we are fully satisfied of the french sincerity, which indeed is entirely otherwise, especially from the Reasons he assigns that it was owing to the commandants neglect or disobedience to his Instructions. We never can bring ourselves to believe that any man (especially a french subject) grown old with an untainted and great Reputation, durst have disobeyed what seems to have been the only Material part of his Instructions to block up Portsmouth, and surely, if not for this one Errand his Voyage to the Chunnel must rather do harm than good, which was evidently seen by the Government being put timeously upon their Guard. As to his next paragraph relating to the frenches cautious delay purposely to see what Influence the powers of the Court would have upon your Majestys friends here, and that the above cautious delay was grating to the Prince; no wonder indeed his Royal Highness had too penetrating an Eye not to see that it would be impossible to recover this Time and opportunity he was losing. But what really quite astonishes us is his Lordships saying that from the light it was represented in, their caution seemed to be well grounded. We cant pretend to take their Reasons to [heart] as they are not told us, but we are affraid they consist more in plausible pretences, dressed up with a little french Rhetorick, than in strong and solid Arguments. We are in this Climate generally accustomed to the plainer sort[Pg 56] of speach, and we cannot help thinking ourselves judges of it. Did not the french Court know of Comns.?[199] Did they not know that that Majority would pass all Bills that might seem their Master? Did they not know that the repeal of the Habeas Corpus act would naturally be the first step and that by that Repeal they were enabled to take up every person they suspected? Did they not know that the principal men in England, of your Majestys friends, were in the house and that not one of them durst object to any method that was proposed as their offering. Such would have been an open declaration of their principles, and must consequently have caused their confinement. Did they not know that the English are a fickle sort of people, and that they had a natural abhorence of the french nation, and thay could not be ignorant that this was giving them time to frighten them by the fear of a french Influence that State pretence and thereby to make friends in the City of London. If they were Ignorant of all these they ought surely to have been told, and we must be of opinion that these as such Indisputable Reasons that no Sound Arguments could be adduced to confute them, which, when rightly observed, makes their Schemes of delaying it for a little time appear vain and frivolous pretences and absolutely contradictory to all Right Reason. We are convinced that his Royal Highness, keeping so quiet has effectually deceived the Government, that it is entirely owing to his own matchless address, and indeed upon decyphering the Letter My Lord T[ra]q[uai]r and I thought that we was in the next line to have had orders to keep in readyness to favour a discent to be made, upon the D[uke] of H[amilton] and the Dutch troops going over; but to our unexpressible Surprise he proposes new assurances to be given both from Scotland and England. In the name of Wonder what can all this mean? Where are the Grounds? Where the Reasons, where the necessity leading to such a demand? The assurances from Scotland were thought sufficient by the[Pg 57] K[ing], by C[ardinal] F[leury] and by Mr. Amalot. From the first moment the assurances carried over by Mr. Butler last year from England were thought sufficient, otherwise the french would not have carried the Expidition so far. If this is the case (which we have all along been made believe) what is the necessity for any Renewal of them? What a horrid and Gloomy prospect must such a Scheme carry along with it, things have been carried on for some years with great Secrecy and caution, tho’ with danger of Life and fortune to those concerned, and must they now recommence such another tedious and dangerous Negotiation? I am afraid, Sir, if your Majesty should find it necessary it will be next to impossible, at lest my Lord T[ra]q[uai]r never can take a hand doing any thing in England, he is already strongly suspected and it wanted but little he was not taken up some moneths ago. The express he sent to London with a Letter to Watson[200] was seized, which was occasioned by one from him which left us quite in the dark as to what assistance we were to have, and that within 3 weeks of the Expidition, but not till he had delivered his Packet; and had he not luckyly said he believed it Related to a marriage which was then the talk of the town, his Lordship had surely been arested. But if the English are so well satisfied with the procedure of the french, and the open discovery of any plot, why cant they find one amongst themselves to do the Business? I shall be sorry to think they have only a view to gain time till they see whither they are able to carry on the War in spite of Brittain, and then tell us that the Zeal shown for the present Government in the time of the Expidition contradicts all the assurances we advanced to the contrary, which will be the Result of their Cautious and well delay for a little time. This is harsh, but other people have seen, and I have read of france doing the like in other cases. As to the troops to be landed in Scotland, suppose it to be impossible to converse with all the concert on it att any time in two moneths, and all[Pg 58] present not to be done at all, yett I can take upon me to affirm that they still continue in the same mind as to every Article. 3000 men landed, one half near Sir J[ames] Cam[pbe]ll to command Argyle Shire, the other half near Inverness, a L[ochie]l may join them to command the north, or if the one half can’t reach near to Sir J[ames] C[ampbell], lett them be all landed together with 4 feild pieces, 15 or 20,000 Stand of Arms, Gones, Pistoles and broad Swords, yett from the inquiry I have made I am satisfied 10,000 Guns or less, 10,000 Broad Swords and as many Pistoles will sufficiently do the Business, as all the Isles are lately Armed with Guns and most of them Swords, Likewise, as for the Inland Country, they want Swords and Pistoles very much. It gives us great uneasiness that my Lord M[arischal] should be so unhappy as to fly in the face of every Scheme, if he himself does not project. Sed quos Deus vult perdere dementit prius, but we cannot help thinking oddnt, when the money was had to pay Sir J[ames] Mr. Watson did not care to remit it. This to be sure required no Conveyance, a Bill was sufficient. He knows the miserable Situation he is in, and tho’ the rest of the Concert are in no such Indigent Situation, yett their Circumstances are not so opulent as to assist him. The Gentlemen in the Highlands were so desirous to know if any accounts were come that Locheal gave a Commission to St[ewart] of A[rdshiel] who came expressly to meet with me and indeed I was so Anxious for the Situation of your Majestys friends, that I resolved upon a journey abroad to inform myself of every thing, upon the pretence of going to see the Army to some who had a title to be a little more Curious upon pretence of making more interest for a Company in the Dutch in case of any new levies, so that it was an accident I either mett with that Gentleman or saw my Lord S[emple] letter. He complained heavily that we had no Accounts from abroad, and indeed I never had more difficulty to excuse our friends. However, I told that our having none looked well as it portended that the expidition had surely suffered some short delay from the bad weather that had happened[Pg 59] at the time, and as it was soon to be resumed, they thought it needless to send us any information in case of discoveries, which nevertheless cou’d observe did not entirely Satisfie him. My Lord T[raquair] desired me to assure your Majesty that there is nothing he would not undertake which might      further your Majestys interest but that he cannot come from his own house to Edinburgh without being suspected, which renders it impossible for him to negotiate any thing in England, and at the same time desires me to observe that he cannot reconceal that part of my Lord S[emple’s] Letter, where he tells him that nothing will be fixed with relation to the expidition till he hear from him with his proposals of fresh assurances from your Majestys friends here. In short, Sir, I must say that this letter is of such a nature that I do not take it upon me to intimate it to the Gentlemen in the Concert as in the present Situation Your Majestys Wisdom, the inexpressible Character the Prince has acquired as being of so brave and enterprising a Spirit, together with their own Suspence and hopes are what keep up their Spirits, but was I to make it knowen to them I am afraid it would throw them into a fatal Despondency, so till I have your Majestys orders am resolved to keep it private. Never was there a people more anxiously concerned about a princes happiness and welfare than this nation when she heard of Highness imbarkation, nor do I believe Scotland ever made a more unanimous Appearance than they would have done then, provided the Conditions promised them had been performed, but we have been told here, how justly I won’t say, that there was only 3000 Muskets designed for us without any troops, indeed, we are able, at any time, to command our own Country with Arms and officers, especially now when there is only four Regiments of foot and two of Dragoons, and each of these 100 Men draughted to flanders. I am sorry to be obliged to trouble your Majesty with so long a paper, but I am hopefull your Majesty will be of opinion our present Situation required it especially after receiving the inclosed, nor do I fear your Majestys being angry[Pg 60] upon that account as I most humbly beg leave to say that an honest and loyal Subject can never explain himself too fully and Clearly to a wise Prince, and since the Receipt of Lord S[emple] letter I am more fully resolved to make my journey abroad as I think there is more Reason for full and pointed explications on every Article, and if I don’t thereby hurt your Majestys affairs of what at present I have no idea I shall be quite indifferent as what may be the consequence with regard to myself, being Void of all other Views but that of promoting your Majestys Interest, which I shall ever endeavour to do att all hazard. I most humbly beg this letter may not be made known to my Lord S[emple] and Mr. W[atson][201] least it unreasonably make differences amongst those concerned in your Majestys affairs, but if sending them a Copy will in your Majestys opinion be of any Service, I can with great Satisfaction sacrifice the private Regard of any man to the trueth and to my King and Country.

This seems to be a Copy of a Letter which Mr. Murray wrote after his return from France and Flanders in the Moneths of September or October, 1744, To the young Pretender, then in France.[202]

Murray to Prince Charles

Sir,—It gives me the most Concern I should have been so long in this Country without having it in my power to acquaint your Royal Highness with what has passed since I left France, except in the short Letter I was necessitate to write from London under Cover to Mr. Lumly or Maxwell.[203] I dont now remember whilst being then able to find no other conveyance and since my Arrival here, there has been no Occasion till the present tho’ I have laid myself out to find one, as I might not so distinctly as I incline, acquaint your Royal Highness of every thing by way of letter. I have taken the Liberty[Pg 61] to write in form of a journal with opinions of the several Persons I have had occasion to talk to.

I sett out from Senlis[204] on Wednesday morning and on Thursday night came to Brussels. From thence I went next day to Termonde, where I mett with 636, 616, 1614, 12, 30, 1392,[205] who I spoke to as ordered by Mr. Burnet.[206] He seemed a little Timerous at first, but nevertheless promised to do all in his power with his Brother Officers, and to write Mr. Fisher[206] under the name of Burnet subscribing himself Cuming. On the Saturday I went to 425, 1876, 1614,[207] in Company with Mr. 434, 1054, 1730,[208] to whom I spoke all night and found him so frank as to give me his word of honour that he would come over immediately upon my writing to him that he would use his Interest with the 1495 of his 598, 1614,[209] and go to Charleroy and talk with Some of Coaliers[210] and promised likewise to Send me over a list of the recruiting officers for this year, with a mark to those that might be spoke to. From that came to Rotterdam on Saturday where he informed me that there was nothing easier than to gett Arms of all kinds by applying to any Jew att Amsterdam who would oblige himself upon a penalty to give any number att whatever port in Holland we desired, and that as this was done dayly, it would create no Suspicion. There mett with 1389, 1051, C13,[211] to whom I repeated what had passed from the time I left him, and delivered him two letters from Mr. Burnet[206] with which he seemed exceedingly well pleased. I had many conversations with him on these[Pg 62] Subjects, and upon the whole he was, and still is of Opinion that the English will not be brought to enter upon any Scheme without a foreign force, and that Mr. Burnet’s[212] coming to Scotland without their concurrence must be of the worse consequence, as from that quarter alone their did not appear the least probability of Success; for which reason, if the french do not putt in Execution the following Spring what they proposed the passed, he proposes as the dernier Resort to make an offer to the King of the Crown of Scotland upon the footing of the Antient Allience with France; but of this I shall say nothing, leaving to him to explain it himself, and as to raising a Sum of money is of Opinion it will be very difficult, if at all possible. On the friday Se-en night,[213] after leaving Senlis I arrived att London and nixt morning went to wait of Mr. Moore[214] but missed him, however in the evening I gott him at home but found him quite a different man from what I had left him, very reserved and did not offer to show me any letter he had received during my Absence tho’ Martin[215] informed me he had given him one the post before. I then talked to him a little different of the frenches intentions, at least for this Winter season, to which he answered he looked upon the King of France as a man of honour, and that to be sure he would not give Mr. Fisher[212] such promises if he did not seriously intend to serve him. I endeavoured to show him from the then Situation of the french officers that it was unreasonable to expect it, but all to no purpose. Then I told him that Mr. Fisher desired Letters so and so adressed should Morris,[216] this he said was not in his power for he did not know the person in the City forwarded them, but promised to speak with Martin, who was acquainted with, and usually carried his Letters, who was[Pg 63] acquainted with him. I nixt spoke to him of raising a Sum of money to purchase Arms as likewise a few thousand pounds for Mr. Burnets[217] Own Use who was much pinched by the small allowance he had from Mr. Adams.[218] He told me that was what he could say nothing off, but that he knew their had been a Sum remitted to him last Spring by the way of Amsterdam. I then asked him to suppose the case that the french would do nothing, whether he imagined Saville[219] would join heartily with Sanderson[220] to bring about 407. Smith;[221] to which he answered as before, about the money that he knew nothing about it and so would not give his Opinion. Upon which I enjoined him upon Mr. Burnets[217] Name to mention that to none but whom Mr. Bright[222] and he should agree upon his Coming to Town, and desired to know how soon he thought that should be, which he still answered as before. From all which I could plainly see he had gott his Lesson from the other side. What made this the more obvious to me, in talking of raising money to purchase Arms, I told him it would be absolutely necessary, for tho’ in Diepe[223] we had men and them very willing to fight, yet we had no money, and Arms for not above 7000 if so many; A number far inferior to what I had before told him would appear. Upon which he immediately indeavoured to catch me by saying he hoped I had got no bad news from Doit[224] to Occasion my Diminishing the number of Loyalists which obliged me to explain the matter by telling him that in 1829, 1274, 1381, 1721,[225] a Gentleman [whose] following consisted perhaps of 800 had not arms for above one half and so of the rest, by which means they all in general when spoke to, declared they were not Armed. This, he no doubt did with Intent to find me out in a Contradiction which he could not have failed to represent to his friends[Pg 64] on the other side by the first post, who would have made their own use of it with Mr. Burnet.[226] Two days after, I went again to wait of him and enquire if he had settled that Correspondence as Mr. Fisher[226] desired, when he told me with great indifference that he had never spoke of it, and that the packets were to be stoped going any Longer from Dover to Calais, so that their must be a new conveyance settled, but how that was to be done he did not know. I then left him, and wrote the Short Letter I before mentioned to Mr. Burnet.[226] Then sett out for Doit, and on tuesday the 2d of October met with 1443, 1721, 530, 1489, 699, 1051, 1798,[227] a young Gentleman of a very large fortune, who I acquainted in general with my having seen Mr. Fisher[226] and what he proposed, upon which he very frankly offered to raise a sum of Money provided the others who I told off were to be applyed he would agree to it and that he would stay some time longer than he proposed, having intended to go to London, and is now in this place but of Opinion that nothing can be done without either a foreign force or the concurrence of Sidley.[228] Upon tuesday the ninth of October, I sent an Express to Mr. Bright,[229] then at the Earl of Nidsdales, and upon thursday morning he came to my house where I acquainted him with everything I had done from my Arrival at London. He seemed very much concerned that so many years and so much money had been spent to no purpose, but as he was obliged to return early nixt morning would not give his Opinion of the present footing things were on till his return home. Upon the 16th, I went with an intention to see Sir 1293, 43C, 1055, 1744, 1045, 1948, 1679, 1778,[230] and inform him fully of Mr. Burnets[226] resolutions, but found he was in fife, and his family uncertain of his Return, so proceeded to Edinburgh from whence I wrote the 18th of October to Mr. Fergus,[231] begging he would meet me at Mr. Brights[229] house about[Pg 65] the 26th, and one inclosed to Mr. Dan,[232] desiring him to come immediately. I soon received a letter informing me that Mr. Dan was come, and desired to see me, but as at this time my wife was taken very ill, I sent a servant that same night to town desiring the favour of a visit from him in the Country, which he declined, thinking it would look too suspicious as I was so lately come home and he only two days in Town, so rather choose to delay it for som little time. I likewise received a letter from Mr. Fergus,[233] telling me he could not for some weeks see me. I was now become very uneasy to think I had been for above a moneth in the Country without being able to do any thing, when luckily, about the       of the moneth Mr. Bright[234] called on me in his very home and promised to be in town 3 or 4 days after, which determined me to go nixt day, and that night I mett with Mr. Bright (who had been called by express) and Mr. Dan, when I read them a journal of what had passed from my leaving Diepe the 7th of July, and acquainted them with Mr. Burnets[235] Resolutions in case the french failed him. They were both well pleased with the proposal of Sidly and Sanderson[236] acting in conjuncion, but Equally against Mr. Fisher’s[235] relying upon Sanderson alone. I nixt day gave Mr. Dan the Letter designed for Nicolson,[237] which he delivered to him, and made an apointment to meet with me the same night which he accordingly did; but as he had drunk a little too much we differred having any positive answer from him. I told Mr. Dan there was a necessity for the other Letters being delivered immediately and that I depended upon him to do it. Found, as he was then about getting his Charter from the Duke of Argyle, and had given that for the reason of his coming up, it was impossible for him to Return without giving Suspicion. I for the second time had the misfortune to miss Sir 1293, 43C, 1055, 1744, 1045, 948, 1679, 1778,[238] being gone to[Pg 66] his house in the West, nor have I yett been able to see him, as I have almost ever since been obliged to Stay in this place. I left town munday 12 and returned thursday the 15th, where Mr. Dan came to me before dinner and told me that young Kinny[239] desired to speak with me, so I agreed to meet him that Evening Att 4 o’Clock, where he informed me that Lord Semple[240] and Mr. Drummond had refused to do Business any longer, that they had sent John Drummond[241] to him att Dunkirk to acquaint him that I had made Mr. Burnet[242] believe they were not trusted by his friends, and that they had then a prospect on the Tapis but had given it up, and told him that I had[Pg 67] at the same time perswaded Mr. Fisher[243] to come ovir with the intent to make himself 1357[244] and leave his father att Harfleur,[245] which I take God to Witness I never since mentioned to him as indeed it is one of the things in the world most against my principles upon which alone I have always acted in Mr. Ellis’s[246] affairs. Kinnys opinion of them, together with what I told him, easily convinced him of the folly of their Story.

Some few days after this Mr. Fergus[247] came to town and stayed for near two weeks, he has procured the small Vessel by which this comes, and will order it to and again so often as Occasion shall offer. I had several conversations with him on the present State of affairs, but shall confine them all to his Answer, we shall he Subjoin with that of the rest, having gott them to putt their several Opinions in writing. I shall there putt down Mr. Fergus, Mr. Bright[248] and Mr. Dans[249] opinion with regard to some of the Articles I was charged with in the memorandum. Which notwithstanding they were (save Fergus) against Mr. Burnets[243] coming over, at any rate to Doit,[250] I nevertheless insisted upon it to show that I had not neglected any particular of my orders, and first as to Mr. Brights[248] going to London he proposes being there before the end of January, 2ndly The letters wrote to the several persons for money should be delivered with an Apology, that they could be wrote to in no other stile in case they had miscarried, 3rdly, The place Mr. Burnet[243] was to meet should be some small distance from Aberdeen, upon that part of the Coast lying towards Dundee, and that we should here be acquainted by one sent over a moneth before, of the day he determined to sail, providing the weather favoured him, and the moment he landed to send an express to Mr. Fergus,[249] and one to Mr. Dan[247] with instructions what day they were to ...

[Pg 68]

[Hiatus in MSS.]

4ly as to providing of Swords it is what they dayly do, but the number to be had so small as not to be regarded. 5tly The making of Hilts and Targets impossible to be done without a Discovery and that a few days only is required to make the Targets so that they can be provided without trouble. 6thly, As to a ship for Arms, Mr. Fergus engaged to provide it.

[Pg 69]


[Pg 71]

MEMORIAL CONCERNING THE HIGHLANDS WRITTEN BY ALEXANDER MACBEAN, A.M. MINISTER OF INVERNESS

Inverness, 10 Octr. 1746.

The Islands of Orkney and Shetland I know little about.[251]

The Shire of Caithness is inhabited chiefly by StClairs and Dunbars. The Earl of Caithness is Chief of the StClairs who are by far more numerous than the other. I know not the precise number of men they can raise but I have heard that at the Battle of     [252]fought by them against the late Earl of Breadalbin, I think in the reign of King William, they had about 1500 men[Pg 72] Horse and Foot. But several gentlemen of that name living in the Orknies would on such ocasion with their men join their friends on the Continent. Mr. James Gilchrist, Minister at Thurso,[253] happened to be walking with a gentleman in Summer 1744 who found a letter on the road which when opened was found to be writ in Cypher by a gentleman of the name of StClair to a correspondent at Edinburgh mentioning that Shuch and Shuch would be ready at a Call each with his number of men plainly exprest; all the names were in Cypher nor could I learn the precise number. Mr. Gilchrist could not prevail with the gentleman to let him have the keeping of the letter, however this discovery was useful as it put the Lords Sutherland and Reay on their guard. ’Twas talked here in time of the Rebellion that the StClairs would have joined the Pretender but that they durst not pass through Lord Sutherland’s country[254] as his men were in arms joined by the McKays, some of the ministers of Caithness can inform you particularly about this and about Sir James Stewart of Burrows[255] who lives in the Orknies.

Dunbars of Caithness

I could not as yet be informed how the Dunbars of Caithness behaved, Sir William Dunbar of Hemprigs their Chief, is the principle man. He was reckoned well affected to Church and State.

[Pg 73]

McKays of Strathnavar

Next to Caithness, Southward and on the Western coast, is Strathnavar the country of Lord Reay, Chief of the McKays,[256] a zealous Presbyterian and revolutioner; with all his Clan he can raise as near as I can guess about 600 men. The part he acted last year is well known. It will be always mentioned to his honour that by his zeal and diligence he got the large Parish of Diurness divided into three and Stipends made for each of them by a general Collection through Scotland and his own liberal assistance though his estate be but 10,000£ scots there is scarce a family in this country but has been brought to have Family Worship, though that People was of old very rude and barbarous.

Sutherland of Sutherland

Next to Caithness, Southward on the East coast, is the Earl of Sutherland’s country, Chief of the name of Sutherland. His Lordship’s affection to our Constitution in Church and State is well known;[257] he can raise ’twixt 1200 and 1500 men; his Estate is reckoned about £3000 scots but somewhat under burden.

McLeods of Assint

As the Shires of Sutherland and Caithness make a Peninsula formed by the Firth of Tain from the east Sea and an arm of the Western Ocean, that I may describe the People and the Country more distinctly I will travel along the Western Coast and then return Eastward.

Next to Lord Reay’s country on the south side of the Firth called Edrachaolis and on the west coast is the country of Assint, belonging of old to a branch of the McLeod Family. This country fell into the hands of the[Pg 74] McKenzies for debt in Charles the Second’s time.[258] McLeod kept possession violently till Letters of Fire and Sword were executed against him by the Earl of Seaforth. The Commons there are chiefly McLeods. McLeod of Ginnies in east Ross is the heir male of that family. He raised one of the independent Companies last year and continued in the Government’s service till dismissed a few weeks ago. His dwelling is about 30 miles east from Assint. After the battle of Preston McDonald of Barisdale[259] with a few men went to that country and recruited about 60 men, but the Lord Reay’s or Lord Sutherland’s people—I’m not sure which—fell upon him and [recaptured] the men. He and his company were obliged to take to their heels. This country is an entire parish, and prodigious rough and mountainous but famous for good pasture and good cattle. A few of the Earl of Cromarties family lived here and were obliged to go with him to the Rebellion. Viz. McKenzie of Ardloch.

McLeods of Cogach

To the south of Assint is the country of Cogach, a part of the parish of Loch-Broom formerly belonging to another family of the McLeods. [Margaret] McLeod of Cogach, the heiress of the family, was married to George, the first Earl of Cromarty.[260] This Earl, who was an antiquary, alleged that McLeod of Cogach was Chief of the whole clan, and consequently he as their representative, in right of his wife, procured the Title of Lord McLeod from Queen[Pg 75] Anne as his secondary title, and this country continued the property of the family till now. Out of Cogach and some branches of his family in Loch-Broom together with the few I have mentioned from Assint, the Earl of Cromarty raised above 200 men for the late Rebellion. What number he had altogether will be mentioned when I come to the East Coast where he dwelt.

McKenzies of Loch-Broom

Next to Cogach is Loch-Broom, belonging to several small Heritors of the name of McKenzie. John McKenzie of Ardloch and James McKenzie of Cepoch, the only Papists that I know in all that tract of ground except the Lady Assint, bred their children Protestants.

Next is the Country of Gairloch, belonging mostly to McKenzies of Gairloch.

McKenzies of Applecross and Loch-Carran

To the south of it is Applecross a new erection in the year 1720. And next to it Loch-Carran. To this last place, the Earl of Seaforth,[261] as we call him here, retired when the Rebels retreated North and gathered 600 or 800 of his men about him by which he kept them in readiness for any service proper for him to do and preserved them from straggling companies of the Rebels who went about recruiting men. This last is the property of the Earl.

Mathesons and Murchisons of Loch Ailsh

Next to the South is the country of Loch Ailsh the property of the Seaforth Family. The McDonalds of Glengarry of old pretended right to the country and had many battles and skirmishes with the McKenzies about it. The last was a Sea-fight in Birlins and Boats, with long poles, corn forks and Lochabyr axes, in which the McDonalds were defeated, and Glengary with many of his company killed.[262] This happened before the Reformation.[Pg 76] Most of the Commons are Mathesons and Murchisons but they join the McKenzies.

McRaes of Kintail

Next to the South is the Parish of Kintail and the Parish of Muick[263] a new erection in the year 1726 taken from the old Parish of Kintail. The whole country goes under the name of Kintail. The bulk of the inhabitants are of the name of McRae, descended from the Campbells,[264] but they follow the Seaforth Family. Here lies Glen Shiel.

In all this tract of ground, viz., from Lord Reay’s country on the north to Glenelg on the south, the people are but late converts to Presbytery. The old Episcopal Incumbents having lived long, some of them till the year 29, I could not find that any of them took the oaths to the Government. The gentlemen are most Episcopal and they or their predecessors were at Shirefmoor and Glen[Pg 77] Sheil with the late Seaforth.[265] But by the good disposition of the present Seaforth to our happy establishment, they did not think fit to join in the late Rebellion, excepting a few younger brothers who had nothing to lose and are now prisoners in London. The first Presbyterian Minister was planted in Assint in the year 1727 at Loch-Broom. He landed much sooner, but though married to a native he was so miserable that he could not live in the country.

After him Mr. James Smith, now Minister at Creich in Sutherland, was ordained for the place by the Presbytery of Dingwall. The first night he came to his Parish both the eyes were plucked out his horse as his welcome to the country. Applecross, Kintail and Muick were not planted till the year 1730; Loch Carran in the year 1725. Mr. John McKilikin was ordained at Dingwall for the parish of Loch Ailsh a good time ago and though he lived for several years, he never durst enter his parish, and after his death, the Presbytery who went there to command the people about filling the parish in the year 1721 or 1722, were made prisoners in the house where they met, by men in women’s clothes, and their faces blackened. A pledge was demanded of them that they should never come to that country, which they refusing, they sent a Guard of this black crew with each of them towards their respective homes. But in the year 1727 a minister was planted there who got peaceable possession. In all or most of these parishes the Sacrament of the Supper has been lately administered and the Commons are already much recovered from their blindness and bigotry, and some of the gentlemen.

[Pg 78]

[The Long Island][266]

In all this tract of ground there are no Papists but what I have named. I know the country minutely, and ministers are tolerably well accommodated in Stipend, Manse, and Glebe. I will speak of the number of men Seaforth can raise when I come to the east side of the country where his seat stands.

Opposite to the coast I have been describing is the Long Island. That part of it to the North, called Lewis, belongs to the Seaforth Family. It was formerly the property of McLeod of Lewis, now extinct.[267] The People here are Protestants and do not dislike the present Clergy; there were two new erections made here, Anno 1726, before the estate of Seaforth was sold by the Government; so that this country is in a tolerable state of reformation.

The next district of the Long Island is called Harris.[Pg 79] The people Protestants: it belongs to the Laird of McLeod. The next portion southward is called North Uist. The people Protestants; Sir Alexander [Macdonald] of Slate, Proprietor, South Uist belongs to McDonald of Moidart, or the Captain of Clanranald, as they call him. The present Clanranald lived here: he and his People are Papists, as is McNeil of Barra,[268] and his People. In the Uists and Barra are one or two new erections of late; but by the influence of the Gentry, the diligence and insolence of the Priests, and the bigotry of the people, the ministers had little success till now. Old Clanranald was not in arms in the late Rebellion nor could many of his people in Uist get over to the Continent, for the ships of war that cruised upon the coast.

[The Macdonalds]

As I have mentioned two families of the McDonalds, I will say something of them in general. They would be a great Clan and next to the Campbells in strength and number, if united under one head: but the several families of them, viz.: Clanranald, the Slate family, the Glengarry family, the Keppoch family, and even the Glencoe family, all pretend to be the lineal heir of McDonald of the Isles, Earl of Ross, who was forfeited in the time of James the Second, for joining with the Duglases and others in the Great Rebellion that then happened; and this division makes them less potent and formidable than otherwise they would be.[269] I once made an abstract of the several Rebellions and Insurrections of the McDonalds against the Kings of Scotland, and especially against the Stuart Family; by which it was very evident this people was seldom loyal to any King on the throne. If they could find no Pretender, they would find some pretence or other for war and plunder. But this paper I have lost.

[Pg 80]

[Skye]

The next Island to the South and East is Skye, the property of McDonald of Slate, McLeod and McInnin,[270] The people Protestants, the Commons and most of the Gentry better disposed than those in Seaforth’s country, on the opposite continent. Here is a new erection or two made Anno 1726. Egg, Rum, Muick and Canney, etc., are little Isles adjacent to Sky; the inhabitants Popish. But about 30 years ago, McLean of Coll is said to have converted a pragmatical, forward fellow, who misled the rest, by insulting him in their presence, and on this the inhabitants of that Island became Protestants.[271] These Isles were erected into a Parish in Anno 1726.[272]

[Glenelg and Knoydart]

The next country southward on the continent is Glenelg, the property of the Laird of McLeod. The people Protestants and honest, and generally well disposed: here are Barracks built for two or three companies of soldiers near the Strait that divides Sky from Glenelg: this country is fertile in grass and corn. Here are two famous Danish Forts of dry stone built very high which I have seen.

To the south an arm of the sea called Lochiurn, i.e., Helsloch[273] runs up ’twixt this country and Cnoidart. This last is the property of Glengarry, and the most mountainous, craggy, and coarse of all the Highlands: the roads[Pg 81] are so eminently bad that there is no thought of riding in it, and in some places so steep and rocky, that they have ropes of withs tied to trees to take hold of, lest passengers should fall and break their bones. The people all Papists and mostly thieves. ’Tis a part of the parish of Glenelg, but they never give the minister any trouble, except in collecting his Stipend. Here lived those famous Cadets of Glengarrie’s family, Barisdale, and Scotos,[274] who had almost the whole country in bondage, and the people their slaves.

[Moidart and Arisaig]

To the south of Knoidart lies Moidart and Arasag, the property of Clanranald. The people Popish but not so thievish as in Knoidart. Next it lies two great glens called Moroirs; the one of them belongs to Glengarry and the other to McDonald, commonly called McDonald of Moroir. The Inhabitants Popish. The two principal Cadets of the Clanranald family are Kinloch Moidart and Moroir, and their branches,[275] all Popish. These four last[Pg 82] countries, viz., Moidart, Arasag and the two Moroirs are in the parish of Ardnamurchan, and they with Knoidart are commonly called the Highlands by the other Highlanders. The people of Lochabyr, Glengarry, and Stratherrick[Pg 83] reckoning their own country level in comparison of these.

Next lies Ardnamurchan in which is the famous Lead Quarry, Strontian, the property of Murray of Stanhope:[276] it belonged till of late to Sir Duncan Campbell of Lochnell: and was taken about the time of the Reformation by Sir Donald Campbell of Ardnamurchan, a natural son to Calder, from McDonald the old Proprietor. The people are generally Protestants, but with a mixture of Papists. Many of the inhabitants are Camerons and McLachlans, and violently Episcopal.

[Pg 84]

[Ardnamurchan, Morvern and Maclean’s Country]

As I am now arrived at the Cape commonly called Ardnamurchan, I turn back to the north east, where on the Sound of Mull lies the country of Morven the property of the Duke of Argyle. The people Protestants; many of them Camerons, McLachlans and McLeans: much inclined to Episcopacy, and consequently Jacobites. There are few or no Papists: of old this country belonged to the McLean family.

The next country on the north east and still on the Sound of Mull is Kingairloch, the property of McLean of Kingairloch. He himself was not in the Rebellion but I saw two or three of his brothers there. The people Episcopal, and Jacobite.

Next, still north east, and on an arm of the sea lies Ardgour, the property of McLean of Ardgour; his country lies ten or twelve miles along the sea-coast till you come to the head of Locheil. He is a well disposed old man, but as his estate is much out of his hand, his influence was not great; the people Protestants. Here lived Ludovick Cameron,[277] Uncle to Locheil, who brought out many of the inhabitants to the Rebellion, especially the Camerons who lived here.

Having now travelled on the north side of the Sound of Mull as far as the sea goes up, the last five miles of which is called Locheil, I go back to the islands in the Sound, and then will come along the south coast, and describe the countries inhabited by Rebels; I will afterwards describe the rest of Argyle if you require it.

[Lismore, Mull, Strathlachlan]

The first island of any note is Lismore; a most fertile soil; all founded on Limestone, and like garden ground, which the name of the island imports. Here was the seat of the Bishop of the Isles: it lies in the Sound opposite to Lorn and Appin; the people Protestants and well[Pg 85] disposed. It is but eight miles long and one broad, and is the property of ten or twelve heritors. To the west hereof lies Mull, a large island containing three Parishes, mostly the Property of the Duke of Argyle; formerly the property of McLean of Dowart. McLean of Lochbuie has still an estate here, of about 6000 Merks: the people Protestants mostly and well affected; but from this island, Morvern and Kingairloch there came about nine score McLeans to the Rebellion, of whom returned but 38 as a McLean told me.[278] The islands of Tyree, Coll, Jura, Colonsay, Islay, Gigha, etc. I omit as there were no men from them in the Rebellion. Only before I come to the southeast coast of the Sound of Mull, I must not omit a gentleman who rose with his men from the heart of the country of Argyle, I mean the Laird of McLachlan;[279] his small country called Strathlachlan lies to the south of Inverary and on the south side of Lochfine. He is Chief of the McLachlans, and had as I am informed, near 300 men in the Rebellion, but of the number I am not quite sure; Mr. Alexr. Campbell, minister of Inverary, must know.[280] His people of a long time profest to be of our Communion, but one Mr. John McLachlan,[281] a most violent Episcopal minister poisoned his Chief and the gentlemen of his name to a strange degree, and indeed did more mischief among other clans than any three priests I ever knew.

[Pg 86]

[Appin and Glencoe]

I now come as I promised to the coast on the south east side of the Sound of Mull. The first dissaffected country is Appin, inhabited by the Stuarts. The Laird of Appin[282] keeps quiet at home but the gentlemen of his clan and his tenants were in the Rebellion. The people here are Protestants, but strangely poisoned by the Nonjurant Episcopal Clergy. Adjacent to Appin is Glencoe; a small place; McDonald of Glencoe is Superior.[283] He can raise of his tenants and followers 100 men. He and his people the same as to religion as his neighbours of Appin.

[Lochiel’s Country]

To the north east of Glencoe, an arm of the sea runs up from the Sound of Mull called [Loch Leven], which I now cross to describe the country of Mamore, inhabited by Camerons and belonging heritably to the Duke of Gordon, but a good part of it feued off to Locheil. The people all Protestants, but of the same kind with Appin and Glencoe. To the north east of Mamore lies Fort-William and a small Glen called Glennevis, above which stands the largest and the highest mountain in Scotland, called Ben Nevis.

On the north side of the River Lochy lies the rest of Locheil’s estate, viz., Locheil, Strathlochy, and Locharkaig. The first and second of these, six miles long each; the last, twelve miles.

On the north side of the Loch of Arkaig (the south side being all wood and desert) mostly inhabited by thieves, the minister of Killmaly preaches to them once a quarter or twice at most, and then the half of them cannot be present if they were willing to attend. In Winter the[Pg 87] snow and storm hinders, and in Summer they are scattered through the hills with their cattle. The Camerons boast of their being Protestants, and Locheil hindered his brother the priest[284] to preach among them, when he told him he would bring them from that villainous habit of thieving, if he would allow him to preach, and say Mass among them: his answer was that the people of Glengarry, Knoidart, Arisag, etc., who were profest Papists, were greater thieves than his people, and if he would bring these to be honest and industrious, he would then consider his proposal as to the Camerons, and till he would bring that good work to a bearing he positively forbad him to middle with his people. But Locheil and the gentlemen of his clan were great encouragers of the Nonjurants and as far as they could they perverted the Commons.

[Keppoch]

The South of the River Lochy is the property of the Duke of Gordon for 6 miles benorth Fort William: inhabited mostly by Camerons. And then begins the country of McDonald of Keppoch, partly the property of the Duke of Gordon; and partly the Laird of M‘Intoshes, Keppoch having but a small interest in it. Anno 1687 McIntosh wanting a great arrear of rents of Keppoch, and getting no satisfaction, went to that country to poynd their cattle, and brought in his train above 500 men. Keppoch, with the assistance of Glencoe and others, his good friends, paid him his rents by giving him battle,[285] killing great numbers of his men, and taking himself prisoner, and getting such good conditions as he pleased[Pg 88] before he released him. The whole ended in a famous Highland song, mocking McIntosh, and placing the true property of the country in Keppoch, as worthier to possess it. Next year Keppoch and his men came northward within 4 miles of Inverness, and sent a message to that town, to find him and his men, money, clothes, and provisions; with a threatening if they scrupled this, he would plunder the town. The town sent out three or four of their Top Burghers to commune with him. These he detained close prisoners, and sent another message demanding 4000 Merks in Specie, and a suit of their finest scarlet mounted with gold for himself with a certification that if this was not done next day, which happened to be the Sabbath, he would hang up their ambassadors, and then plunder their town. Accordingly the town redeemed themselves at the rate he was pleased to prescribe, and his fine and rich suit was finished on Sunday. Then the Ambassadors were released after a severe reprimand for their insolence in prescribing anything to him further than to ask his pleasure.

Keppoch’s people and the Duke of Gordon’s tenants in the neighbourhood are mostly Popish;[286] the greatest number of them were perverted in the Reigns of Queen Anne and George the first. They deal pretty deep in the thieving trade.

[Glengarry]

The next country to the north east is Glengarry, the people Papists and better at thieving than the worst of the other tribes. Their gentlemen found a way to put most of their neighbours under Black Mail which raised[Pg 89] them some hundreds of pounds Sterling, for several years back.

[Abertarff and Stratherrick]

The next country still eastward is Abertarff, mostly the property of the Lovat Family: some of it feued out to Glengarry: all betwixt Fort Augustus are Popish: the few villages of Abertarf, be-east the Garrison, are inhabited by a mixture of Papists and Protestants: the people not free from theft.

Here lies Lochness, the country on the South side is called Stratherrick the property of the Lovat Family. The people Protestants: they submitted to the Established Clergy for many years back. The Commons went to the late Rebellion with great reluctance, and most of them violently compelled. The first country on the north side of the lake is called Glen Morrison, the property of Grant of Glen Morrison.[287] The old man with his men were in the Rebellion: the young Laird is an Ensign in Lord John Murray’s Regiment.[288] The people a mixture of Papists and Protestants, much given to theft.

[Urquhart and Glenmoriston]

Forward to the north east is the country of Urquhart, belonging to the Laird of Grant. Their neighbours, the McDonalds and Frasers, raised most of the men and carried them off to the Rebellion.[289] These and the Glen Morrison men after the Battle of Culloden surrendered to the young Laird of Grant, and were brought by him to the Duke of Cumberland to Inverness to deliver their arms; but by some mistake in the Report, as if they were taken in arms rather than surrendered, they were made prisoners and sent off by sea to England. The people are Protestants, though none of the most civilized.

[The Aird]

Next is the country of the Aird belonging to Lord Lovat,[Pg 90] and where his house stood. The people Protestants, and of our Communion, save very few.[290] The Commons here are an honest, civilized sort of people if left to themselves.

[Strathglass]

Next, to the North, is the country of Strathglass, mostly inhabited by Papists. I do not hear much of their thieving, though they suffer much by the Glengarry thieves. This country belongs mostly to Chisholm of Comar (whose men were in the Rebellion, though he himself was not)[291] and partly to the Frasers.

[Seaforth, Munro, and Cromartie’s Country]

Next is Seaforth’s country, all along pretty low and level, till you come to Ferrindonall, the country of the Munro’s; (the Highland part of his estate, I described on the first sheet as it lies on the North Sea). The Gentlemen and Commons of the McKenzies are Protestants save very few, but very much devoted to the Nonjurant Episcopal Clergy. The Seaforth family embraced the Reformation in the Minority of James the sixth. Coline, then Earl, entertained the famous Mr. Robert Bruce[292] at his house with great respect and esteem when he was banished to Inverness and the country beyond it.[Pg 91] I saw the subscription of Earl George, brother to the said Colin, to an original copy of the Covenant ingrossed on parchment, but he was afterward excommunicated by the Church for breach of trust. I am not sure if this family turned Popish before James the seventh’s time, but the then Earl, whose name was Kenneth, was Popish, as was his son the late Earl. The present Earl was very faithful to the Government all the time of the Rebellion.[293] The Munros and Rosses, I say nothing of, as their good affection to Church and State is well known.

Next is the Earl of Cromartie’s Estate. In the low country the people well affected to our Constitution in Church and State; and very few of his Low Country tenants went with their Lord to the Rebellion.

[Mackintosh Country]

Having in the first sheet described all be-north the broad Ferry of Sutherland at which I have arrived, I come to McIntoshes country, viz., Strathnairn, Strathdearn,[294] and Badenoch. The people are all Protestants, not given to thieving, but strangely poisoned by the Nonjurant Clergy. Their dissatisfaction has sufficiently appeared by their rising with the Lady against the King, rather than with the Laird, their Chief who was a captain in the King’s pay, yea, McIntoshes own company, which he had newly levied, deserted from him and listed in what was called the Lady’s Regiment.[295]

[Strathspey, Strathavon and Glenlivat]

The next country, Strathspey, the property and seat of the Laird of Grant: this Clan raised a Regiment at the Revolution and were firm to the interest of King[Pg 92] William, but they suffered so much by the depredations of the Camerons and McDonalds that they became rather too cautious in time of the late Rebellion; the truth is they were ’twixt two fires, Lord Lewis Gordon to the east, and McIntoshes, Camerons and MacDonalds to the west, so that their country must have been severely plundered if they had been more than Neuters.[296] Besides the emulation ’twixt Grant and the President in former Elections for a member of Parliament was said to have made the Grants too [cautious]; however their good affection to the Revolution Interest has not been questioned, and they are firm Presbyterians. Theft is scarcely known in this country, though they have been great sufferers by the thieving clans to the West.

To the east of Strathspey is Strathdown[297] and Glenlivat mostly the property of the Duke of Gordon: the people mostly Popish, also the Enzie and Strathbogy, a mixture of Papists and Protestants. From these countries Lord Lewis recruited the most of his men, and in their neighbourhood is Braemar and Cromar the country of the Farquharsons: the people Protestants, with a small mixture of Papists: the Gentlemen much devoted to the Nonjurant Clergy. I am not particularly acquainted with this country; therefore, though it be large and populous, I say little about it.

I can say little of the country of Angus and Mearns, only I know dissaffection prevails there: nor am I much known to the country of the Duke of Atholl; the Stuarts and Robisons there are bigoted Jacobites, as are some of the Murrays. And as little do I know of the Drummonds and McGregors, but their Dissaffection is Notour. Therefore I conclude this paper with two lists as near as I can guess of the strength of the Dissaffected, and Well affected Clans in the Highlands and North Country. Which Lists you have in another sheet of this date.

[Caetera desunt]

[Pg 93]


[Pg 95]

AN ACCOUNT OF THE LATE REBELLION FROM ROSS AND SUTHERLAND WRITTEN BY DANIEL MUNRO MINISTER OF TAIN

We had notice in this country of the Young Pretender’s arrival in Lochaber, about the middle of August 1745. The friends of the Government generally despised the Attempt, and the Jacobite party showed then no open disposition to join him. It is said the first notice of his arrival was sent by the Laird of McLeod to the Lord President,[298] and that the President wrote insolently to Locheil (at whose house the Young Pretender was said to be, dissuading him from a Rising to Rebellion). Locheil was under great obligation to the President, on account of the President’s endeavours to get him reponed to his estate, which had been forfeited in the year 1715. The return Locheil made was, that he had been long in search of an important paper relating to that affair, which he now sent him enclosed: this is all he wrote, and the paper enclosed was the Pretender’s Declaration.

The first Rising in this Country was under the Earl of Cromartie, the Earl had waited on Sir John Cope at Inverness with others: he professed a steady adherence to the Government, for though he had been bred a Jacobite, yet he married young into a Whig family.[299] He had a post[Pg 96] and pension of the Government, and was universally thought a Government Man in grant of interest, and was so looked upon in point of Principle, having so often qualified to the Government. He and family joining the Established Church and having educated his eldest son in Revolution Principles.

The first step he took towards joining the Rebels (though it was not so construed at the time) was declining to accept of a Commission for his son Lord McLeod[300] to be Captain of one of the independent companies, offered him by the Lord President. He pretended for so doing a disobligement, being refused by the President the nomination of the Subalterns of said companie. After this he was observed to associate with Lord Lovat, and in the meantime Lord McLeod, his eldest son, repaired to the Highlands of Lochbroom and Cogach, where his Lordship has a considerable estate, vassalage, and superiority, being Heritable Sherriff. Lord McLeod raised the men there; but it was yet pretended this rising was for the defence of his house and person, as Lord Lovat had raised his people and kept them about him under the same pretext.

Soon after the Battle of Preston, McDonald of Barisdale[301][Pg 97] came to this country and was with my Lord openly at his house at Newtarbet, which gave the first rise to any suspicion about the Earl, especially as there was such preparation, as the making of Highland clothes, providing of Arms, and ammunition: but to cover this, it was pretended his Lordship intended a journey to Edinburgh, and must have a strong guard. However early in November he openly declared himself, and went from his house at Newtarbet to West Ross, where a part of his estate lies, and was joined by his son Lord McLeod,[Pg 98] with twixt two and three hundred of his men, taken from Lochbroom and Cogach and off his Estate in West Ross, having got none to follow him from his estate about Newtarbet which is in East Ross, but about ten men who were his menial servants and a young gentleman Roderick McCulloch of Glastalich,[302] one of his vassals, and whose family and friends had no connection with Jacobitism, and whom it is generally allowed the Earl decoyed into the Rebellion. He then marched to the Lord Lovat’s house, where he was joined by the master of Lovat, with 300 Frasers and both went to Perth.

Upon the Rebels coming North after their retreat from Stirling and their arrival at Inverness, they were joined by the whole Posse of the Frasers, who were formed into three Regiments under the command of the Master of Lovat,[303] Fraser younger of Inverallachie,[304] and Fraser of[Pg 99] Foyers;[305] by the Chisholms,[306] all of them under the command of two younger sons of their chief[307] the Chisholm[Pg 100] of Strathglass; by considerable numbers of the McKenzies reckoned about 400, besides the Earl of Cromartie’s own Regiment. These McKenzies were of the Estates of Redcastle, Culcoy, Lentron, Applecross, Coul, Fairburn, Gairloch, Balmaduthy and Allangrange. Under the leading of McKenzie of Lentron, a younger brother to McKenzie of Fairburn[308] and a brother to McKenzie of Culcoy formed into a regiment under McDonald of Barasdale with some of the Banditti Highlanders formerly with him. The Earl of Cromartie when Commander in Chief benorth Beullie affected to be chief of the McKenzies. It is certain the men of the above estate were actually in arms under him and I am well assured he threatened Military Execution against McKenzie of Scatwell (a loyal family of that name) if he did not give his men also, which he absolutely refused at all hazards, and reckons himself happy his Lordship did not return with the same power from Sutherland. It is also fact that when the Rebels were exacting Cess and Levy money of all the estates of the gentlemen in Ross in the most vigorous manner, the gentlemen of the name of McKenzie whose men were in arms were excused from paying their proportion of[Pg 101] Levy money. The Rebels were joined by the McIntoshes who had not joined formerly, by the McIlivraes and McBeans under the command of McIlivrae of Dunmaglass,[309] commonly called the Ladie McIntoshes Regiment,[310] as she was known to be extremely active in raising them:[311] there[Pg 102] were also a mixt multitude from Aberdeen and Banffshire under the command of Lord Lewis Gordon and Mr. More of Stonnywood.

The arts and methods by which the Jacobites endeavoured to raise and spirit people into the Rebellion, and by which they were too successful, were the spreading all sorts of false news to the advantage of their own cause and party; particularly such as related to a French landing, and a junction in England; the venting gross misrepresentations and slanders against the King, Royal Family and Administration; pretending intolerable grievances and confident promises of relief from them: but above all, the indefeasible right of the family of Stuarts, the native interest all Scots men had in them, with the Pretender’s Declaration, were most commonly insisted upon, and this was done with all possible zeal and address, by those Jacobites of power and station who did not think it safe to risk their persons or estates in the cause; though their brothers or sons or other relations and tenants had joined openly. In this view we have been told the Rebellion was a well conducted scheme not like that in the 1715; when all the Jacobite Grandees took the field, but now when their common men were only exposed, though the attempt should not succeed the same Jacobite interest would still subsist.

As to characters all above mentioned whose relations or tenants had joined were regular Jacobites, the Earl[Pg 103] of Cromartie, Lord McLeod and the Master of Lovat excepted.

As to the well affected: Mr. Harry Munro Younger of Foulis now Sir Harry who had been newly nominated a Captain in the Lord Loudon’s Regiment having speedily raised a company of Munroes to serve in the said Regiment met Sir John Cope at the Water of Nairn and upon their arrival at Inverness, Capt. George Munro of Culkairn,[312] Sir Harry’s Uncle, waited on them, where it was concerted that the Munroes should instantly take arms and join the King’s Troops, which was done accordingly. Three Companies were raised under the Leading of Culkairn, Hugh Munro of Teaninich and William Munro of Achany, and marched with General Cope as his advanced guard to Aberdeen, where they stayed till the Army took shipping. Sir Harrie and his company went along and were at the Battle of Preston where they were taken prisoners with the other Highland Companies there. At the same time Captain Alexander M‘Cay, son to Lord Reay and Captain in Lord Loudon’s Regiment, raised a company of McCays in Strathnavar and upon notice of General Cope’s arrival at Inverness marched speedily to join him and missing the General at Inverness followed him and being informed that Gordon of Glenbucket was in arms for the Pretender, took boat upon the Murray Coast and came up with the General at Aberdeen, was at the Battle of Preston and taken prisoner, none of his men or the Monroes when prisoners would be prevailed upon to enlist for the Pretender.[313]

Culkairn upon his march homeward from Aberdeen was apprised by a friend from Banff that Glenbucket with 400 men waited to intercept him. He made his[Pg 104] best preparation and resolutely went on; when Glenbucket thought proper to withdraw, which must have been owing to the known bravery of Culkairn.

Lord Loudon and the President

Immediately after the Battle of Preston, the Earl of Loudon took post for London, and without loss of time came down in a King’s Sloop to Inverness, where he took upon him the Command for the North, and acted always thereafter in concert with the President. The President disposed of the independent companies for raising of which he had blank commissions, in the following manner: A company to Captain Munro of Culkairn, two companies to the Earl of Sutherland, two to my Lord Reay, four companies to the Laird of McLeod, one company to Hugh McLeod of Guineas, four companies to Sir Alexander McDonald whereof only two came to Inverness, a company of Grants, two companies to the Lord Fortrose, a company to the Master of Ross, and a company from Inverness, commanded by Mr. McIntosh, late baillie here. The Munroes, Sutherlands, McCays, and McLeods came to Inverness upon the first call: there was difficulty in raising the McKenzie companies, though Lord Fortrose[314] exerted himself all he could to get it done and showed abundance of zeal for the Government. The best service[Pg 105] he was able to do was preventing a more general rising of his numerous Clan, in which he was successful, there being only about 700 of them in Rebellion including Cromartie’s Regiment. The Clan will at least amount to 1500.

As the Master of Ross was not in the country, the Laird of Inverchasley bestirred himself much to raise a company of Rosses for the Master, and a company of the Highlanders of the name of Ross were accordingly raised; but Malcolm Ross, younger of Pitcalnie,[315] Ensign in Sir Harrie Munroe’s Company of Loudon’s Regiment, and who had been taken prisoner at the Battle of Preston, having come to the country upon pretence of being on his parole, but in reality to serve the Rebel interest, as sufficiently appeared afterwards, got the said company[Pg 106] dismissed in the following manner. Mr. Bailey, factor to the Lord Ross in this country, ordered the company to attend at his house at Ardmore, in order to be received by Mr. Ross of Inverchasley and others. The night before the Day of the Review the said Pitcalnie lodged at the house of Mr. Baillie (Mr. Baillie not being in the knowledge of his design) and when the men appeared ready for the intended Review, Mr. Ross younger, of Pitcalnie, ordered them to follow him, which they did, and he lead them back to the Highlands. Mr. Ross of Inverchasley coming up soon thereafter, and joined by Mr. Baillie went after them and having come up with them, very seriously expostulated with Pitcalnie for his conduct, and dealt earnestly with the men to return, and engage in the intended service for the Government; which Pitcalnie refused and the men also at that time (but they absolutely declined entering to the Rebellion and when the Master of Ross came to the Country they appeared for the Government), upon which Pitcalnie repaired to Lord Lovat’s, openly joined the Rebels attended only by his servant, after the President who is his grand uncle had been at the utmost pains to reclaim him. He was debauched with the hopes of being made Laird of Balnagowan, nor were his family formerly tainted with Jacobitism.

The President’s house of Culloden was attacked in October by a body of Frasers, commanded by Fraser of Foyers, to the number of about 150 in the night time: they were repulsed and one of their number found wounded in an adjacent wood next day, who was brought to the President; and upon examination he discovered who were of the party. After which the President ordered him to be carried to Inverness to be cared for by a surgeon, gave him a piece of money and liberty after his cure to go where he had a mind. Some time thereafter the Earl of Loudon marched from Inverness with a body of 800 men, and apprehended Lord Lovat at his house of Castledownie and carried him prisoner to Inverness, where he was kept under a guard in a private house and in a few days found means to make his escape.

[Pg 107]

My Lord Loudon by the junction of the independent companies and the remains of his own Regiment, made up a body of about 2000 men at Inverness. Lord Lewis Gordon, who had been an officer in the Fleet, was at the same time very active in raising men for the Pretender in Aberdeen and Banffshire, and the Earl of Loudon being informed by intelligence from Aberdeen, and called upon by the friends of the Government there, ordered seven of the Independent Companies, viz., the four McLeod Companies commanded by the Laird of McLeod in person, the Munro and Inverness Companies, and that commanded by Captain McLeod of Guineas;[316] who accordingly marched for Aberdeen and were joined by 400 Grants at the Water of Spey who marched with them to Strathbogie 18 miles from Spey; where they again left them, and returned to their own country. The Companies continued their march for Aberdeen, and having upon the [23rd] day of December come to Inverury within 10 miles of Aboin, they were attacked in the night by Lord Lewis Gordon and his party, who had been reinforced by some companies of Lord John Drummond’s French Regiment sent for that end from the North. The attack was sustained by the Laird of McLeod and Culkairn with great bravery, who finding the superior number of the enemies, and then first observing the French Reinforcement they had got, ordered a retreat, which was managed with good advantage, having only seven private men killed and a few taken prisoners, among whom was Mr. Gordon younger of Ardoch, Culkairn’s Lieutenant. There was considerable execution done upon the Rebels as our men had the favour of the houses, garden dykes, etc., and the Rebels made no pursuit.[317]

[Pg 108]

The Master of Ross, having come by sea to Inverness, was joyfully received by the loyal Clan of the Rosses, when he immediately repaired to this country with the concurrence of the gentlemen of his name, particularly the Laird of Inverchasley, he raised an independent Company with which he joined Lord Loudon.

Upon the Young Pretender’s retreat Northward, Lord Loudon being informed of his being at the House of Moy, the Laird of McIntosh’s seat, within 8 miles of Inverness, he marched from Inverness in the dead of the night with about 1200 men with a view to surprise the Pretender, but as to the particulars of this attempt and how it came to miscarry, it is referred to a more particular information.[318]

The Rebels being upon their march to Inverness both those who came the low way by Aberdeen and those who came by the Highland Road with the Young Pretender; the Earl of Loudon furnished the Castle of Inverness, which Major Grant commanded,[319] with a company of Red Coats, with stores of provisions, and added two independent Companies, the Grants and that commanded by the Master of Ross, and by the defences he made about the town he seemed disposed to maintain Inverness against the Rebels: but upon their approach and considering their numbers and that the place was not tenable, he made a well conducted retreat over the Ferry of Kissack towards Ross-shire. When the retreat was a-making the Rebels carried a field piece to the shore below Inverness and having planted it upon a rising ground within flood mark, they discharged it several times, at the Boats on[Pg 109] their passage, without doing any execution, though the bullets lighted very near the Boats, particularly that in which was Lord Loudon which was the last that passed, and one of them among the men drawn up on the other side after their landing.

The Rebels immediately took possession of Inverness, and laid siege to the Castle, which was surrendered the third day; but as to the particulars of this sort of siege you are referred to the proceeding of the Court Martial which condemned and cashiered the Governor.

Before Lord Loudon left Inverness, and upon the approach of the Rebels, he called upon the Lord Sutherland, Lord Reay and the Master of Ross, to get up to Inverness all the men they could make. Whereupon my Lord Sutherland marched in person at the head of 400 men. The Master having called upon the Laird of Inverchasley and his other friends, four companies of Rosses were ready and upon their march to Inverness their advanced party met Loudon immediately as he landed in Ross. They were astonished to find the Master of Ross their leader had been pent up in the Castle of Inverness, however they waited Lord Loudon his orders: some of them he advised home, to others he gave arms and pay, and they were with him in Sutherland. My Lord Sutherland by Loudon’s orders retreated to his own country, his four hundred men last mentioned, continued under arms. The McCays, by reason of the distance of their country, would not come up with Lord Loudon, till they found him retreated to Sutherland where they joined him.

The day after Loudon’s retreat from Inverness, he marched down from East Ross where he continued for three or four days: and upon intelligence that a strong body of the Rebels under the Earl of Cromartie, Commander in chief benorth Beully had come to West Ross and were upon their way to attack him. He with the Lord President and several gentlemen who had taken flight from Murray to Ross, and all the men under his command (excepting the two McKenzie Companies who dispersed themselves immediately after the retreat from[Pg 110] Inverness and not one of them having followed him) he retreated to Sutherland with a resolution to guard the Passes to that country against the Rebels. Several gentlemen of this country, particularly Inverchasley and ministers who had been so active in raising men to join Loudon, thought fit to repair at the same time to Sutherland. Lord Fortrose left his troup at Brahan and took flight to the Highlands of his own country,[320] where he remained with a body of his men about him till after the Battle of Culloden.

The Earl of Loudon when he got into Sutherland posted his men along the Firth of Tain which divides Sutherland from Ross: from Dornoch to Lairg the difference of ten miles.

The remains of Loudon’s Regiment being about 200 were posted at Dornoch: the McCays being 300 at the Muckle Ferry, three miles above Dornoch: the two McDonald Companies at Pulrossie, a mile above the Ferry: the Inverness Company at Spengadale, two miles above the McDonalds: the Munroes at Criech, two miles above Spengadale: McLeod of Guineas his Company at the Bonar, a mile above Criech: the Laird of McLeod with his 400 men at the Pass of Invershin, three miles above the Bonar; and the Sutherlands to the number of 600 at Lairg and thereabout.

Tayne, Feb. 13, 1747.

[Pg 111]


[Pg 113]

MEMOIRS OF THE REBELLION IN 1745 AND 1746, SO FAR AS IT CONCERNED THE COUNTIES OF ABERDEEN AND BANFF

Gordon of Glenbucket rises

The first man in these countys that rose in this rebellion, was John Gordon, Elder of Glenbucket. Immediately on the Young Pretender’s landing, he went to the Highlands to meet him and returned directly with a Commission as Major-General and some money to raise men, and he soon got together about 300 mostly from Strathdawn[321] and Glenlivet and some too from Strathboggy, all parts of the Duke of Gordon’s Estate.

Is assisted by Skeleter in Strathdon

His son-in-law, Mr. Forbes of Skeleter,[322] also brought him some of this Corps from Strathdon, a country belonging mostly to gentlemen of that name, formerly vassals of the Earl of Mar, now of the Lord Braco.[323] In consequence of this vassalage most of this country had been[Pg 114] engaged in the Rebellion in the 1715, and formed a very good body of men, and as their new Superior, Lord Braco, had not yet acquired great authority over them and Mr. Forbes of New (a family all along well affected to the Government)[324] was abroad, being an officer in the army, the Rebels flattered themselves that by Skeleter’s means the rising at this time would be no less considerable; but in this they were greatly disappointed. For Mr. Leith of Glenkindy, who had lately come to that neighbourhood, being a very firm friend of the Government, and Mr. Forbes of Inverernan (whose predecessor in the 1715 was known by the name of Black Jock) much contrary to the Rebels’ expectation, declaring the same way; and Mr. Lumsden, minister of Towey, who had a small estate in that country, managing the whole with a great deal of address, as he was entirely well-acquainted with all their tempers and situations, Skeleter found his measures so effectually traversed, that he had difficulty enough in raising his own Tenants. Mr. Gordon of Avochy, Glenbucket’s Nephew, a very resolute, active lad, assisted him considerably in his Levys about Strathboggy, where he had a small estate. He, Glenbucket, had also two sons joined him, but the eldest having drunk himself blind could not attempt to march along and was of little use to him at home: the other, too, was but an insignificant creature.

Glenbucket was at Strathboggy when General Cope came to Aberdeen,[325] where the Jacobites gave out that his numbers were at least triple of what they were in reality, and there was so great apprehension of his surprizing the town, and the Magazines there, provided for the Army, that the General thought proper to order most of his Highland companies to march from Old Meldrum in the[Pg 115] midst of the night and take possession of Aberdeen. Why General Cope was so many days at Aberdeen before he embarked, why he refused the most expeditious way of embarking his troops which was proposed by the Magistrates, of bringing about their Fish Boats from John’s Haven, and as well as using the Torry and Foothy[326] boats which would have gained him a day at least (as the Transports when the Soldiers came not out to them in boats, behoved to come up to the harbour with one tide, and go out with another) let those that know the reasons, give them. Meantime his dallying gave several of his men an opportunity of deserting to Strathboggy.

Glenbucket declines Fighting the Munroes

When the 200 Munroes under Culkairn who had accompanied General Cope to Aberdeen were returning from thence, there were great apprehensions lest Glenbucket, who was superior to them in numbers, should have intercepted them and cut them off; but Culkairn himself was under no dread, as his men were good and better armed than Glenbucket’s, and therefore marched on very briskly the way of Banff. Glenbucket had gone down to that country on an expedition for horses and arms, and was in Banff that very day the Monroes came there, but, not choosing to wait their coming up, he sheered off the way to Strathboggy.

Soon after this he had a call from the Young Pretender to hasten up, and accordingly marched South, keeping the westerly roads, and not coming near the towns of Aberdeen or the low parts of the country, but did not join the main Army of the Rebels, till after the Battle of Preston.

Glenbucket’s Character

Glenbucket was a man very singular in his way, and is perhaps the only instance of a Gentleman of a low country family and education, that both could and would so[Pg 116] thoroughly conform himself to the Highland Spirit and manners, as to be able to procure a following among them without a Highland estate or any of the attachments of Chieftainry. He always discovered a great deal of personal courage and particularly behaved well in the 1715 when he commanded some men raised by the Duke of Gordon, in that Rebellion, and after that time kept up a great intercourse with the Highland Chiefs, which was much increased by the marriage of one of his daughters to one of them, McDonald of Glengarry, and it is generally believed he was very serviceable to the court of Rome, in keeping up their correspondence with the Chiefs of the Clans, and was certainly once and again of late years over at that court, when his Low Country friends believed him to be all the while in the Highlands. He had sold the estate of Glenbucket, from whence he has his designation, a good while ago, and at the breaking out of this Rebellion, had not a foot of property, and yet those creatures in Strathdawn and Glenlivet were so attached to him that a number of them rose voluntarily with him. He was however by this time so old and infirm that he could not mount his horse, but behoved to be lifted into his saddle, notwithstanding of which the old spirit still remained in him.

More of Stonnywood

Very soon after the Young Pretender landed, More of Stonnywood[327] prepared to join him, at first very privately, as his estate lay within three miles of Aberdeen, where all in appearance was for the Government. This gentleman very early imbibed the Jacobite principles and was entirely educated in that way; his fortune also was greatly embarrassed, so that his going off was no great surprise.[Pg 117] He was a man of little note or interest and of no great genius, but yet by his activity, diligence, and application, and his thorough acquaintance with the circumstances of Town and Country, he was very serviceable to the Rebels in those parts. He slipped away at first alone, and came up with his Pretended Prince, as he was about to enter Edinburgh, and having immediately got a Commission to raise men, he left them before the Battle of Preston, and had the assurance to enter the town of Aberdeen supported by a couple of broken merchants and York Street Cadys[328] all in white cockades, and to enlist men for the Pretender. The well affected people in town seemed only to make a jest of Stonnywood and his procession, and the magistrates found it convenient to overlook it, since any ill-usage of him might have been severly revenged by a very small party, for as Cope had carried off the Town’s Arms lest the Rebels should have seized them, a very few armed men might have come and plundered the whole town; but from this small beginning thus neglected, the Rebels very soon became masters of the place in reality and so continued till the army arrived under His Royal Highness.

Farquharson of Monaltry rises at the head of Dea

Much about the same time Mr. Farquharson of Monaltry,[329] age 35, a gentleman of no great estate, Nephew and factor to the Laird of Invercauld, began to move at the head of Dea. This gentleman was educated in Revolution principles, but was unhappily seduced and debauched into the Jacobite scheme by the Duke of Perth, who both[Pg 118] the times that he was obliged to conceal himself from the Government made that country his retreat,[330] and Mr. Farquharson, being a sweet-tempered, agreeable lad, was his chief companion in his exile. As Invercauld gave Monaltry no countenance in his rebellion, but immediately turned him out of his Factory, he was not at first very successful in his levys, but as Farquharson of Balmurral,[331] Gordon of Blelack and some others, all of small estates, rose some time after from that country, there were at length a good many men brought from thence.

Hamilton and Tulloch in Strathboggy

John Hamilton, Factor to the Duke of Gordon for the lands about Strathboggy, and afterwards Governor of Carlisle,[332] resolved also very early to join this Rebellion, and being a very haughty man would not act under Glenbucket, but set up on his own footing, and this stopped both their progress for a while, as their misunderstanding made them counteract one another. However Hamilton, being much assisted by one David Tulloch, a considerable tenant of the Duke’s,[333] soon got together 100 Men, thirty of whom he mounted on gentlemen’s horses which he[Pg 119] seized through the County. Hamilton undoubtedly was a noted Jacobite, but reckoned too selfish to meddle in such undertakings, so that the reason of his commencing adventurer was generally imagined to be owing to the disorder of his affairs, which indeed was not apprehended till this step brought it to light. He marched from Strathboggy to Inverury the Monday after the Battle of Preston, where he obliged the Magistrates to attend while the Pretender’s Manifesto was being read over the Cross, and next day using the same ceremony as he marched through Kintore, he came to Aberdeen just as the Council were about electing their Magistrates, which he immediately stopped unless they’d take their oaths to the Pretender (so that the Town wanted Magistrates all the time of the Rebellion), and forced the then Provost and some of the Bailies to attend the reading of their Manifestos over the Cross which was done by Sheriff Depute Petry,[334] he pretending at that time to be forced to it, though he afterwards joined them openly, and then when the Provost refused to join in their disloyal healths Hamilton poured a glass of wine down his throat, and all along behaved very insolently, but happily for Aberdeen he soon marched south with his corps.

Lord Pitsligo moves in Buchan

The unhappy Battle of Preston soon put several in motion who till then were quiet. The Lord Pitsligo[335] who had also been engaged in the Rebellion in the 1715, and had received both his life and fortune from the Government, still retained his old affection for that cause, and never qualified to the present Government. He was justly esteemed a polite and learned gentleman, and of great integrity and honour in private life, but entirely[Pg 120] enthusiastic on the Jacobite principles. As the Young Pretender had wrote letters soon after his landing to most of those whom he thought would favour his design, Lord Pitsligo was not neglected; and though he was now old and might have had merit enough from the party for former services, yet he could not withstand this address, but immediately began to stir and rouse the friends of the Cause. In his letters on that subject he usually called the young Pretender by the name of the Amiable young Stranger. It was not however imagined that in such an infirm state, as he then was, he would have thought of undergoing the fatigues of a Winter Campaign, especially as he had a very small estate, and no Vassalages or Following to his Family, and so could not in that way make any considerable accession to the Party. But now that the family of Marischall was out of the country, and the Earl of Kintore, the next representative of that family, was in the interest of the Government, the gentlemen of Buchan who were friends of the cause and used formerly to follow Marischall, immediately had their eyes fixed on Lord Pitsligo to head them. But all these that appeared in Buchan would not probably have been of consideration enough to have determined him, if soon after Preston, a set of gentlemen in Boyne and Enzie[336] set agog by this victory had not made this an express condition to their going out, that Lord Pitsligo should go as their head. It was generally believed that this condition was insisted on by one or two of them who had been rash enough to be always speaking of their going out if they had an opportunity, and now that it came to the push, repented of it and thought still of getting off and some honour, by offering to go only if Lord Pitsligo went at their head, which they reckoned themselves sure one of his age never would; and if he did not they might then pretend they had no confidence in any attempt of this kind for which Lord Pitsligo would not venture all. But if this was their view they were disappointed in it, for the[Pg 121] rest of these gentlemen consenting to join them in making the same proposal to Lord Pitsligo, he accepted of it and so there was no retracting. The gentlemen who from this country joined his Lordship, or who were in concert with them, were Sir William Gordon of Park, Gordon of Carnusy, Gordon of Cupbairdy, Mr. Hay, Younger of Ranas, Forbes of Brucehill, Gordon of Glastirrum, Abernethy, brother to Mayen, and several other gentlemen of lesser note. Carnusy and Cupbairdy’s journey was a great surprise. The latter had no manner of tincture that way, but being a rambling young lad was determined mostly by comradeship and something too by the high regard he had for Lord Pitsligo. Carnusy was esteemed a wise, solid man and some one not at all wedded to Kingscraft. But as many debts of his never heard of formerly are appearing, this somewhat unravels the mystery.

Joined by Buchan Gentlemen, and Aberdeen’s etc.

Immediately on Lord Pitsligo’s resolution being known there appeared also to join him, Sir William Dunbar of Durn, from Boyne, Mr. Gordon of Hallhead and Mr. Mercer, gentlemen of considerable note that resided usually in the town of Aberdeen: Mr. Gordon of Mill of Kinkardine, Mr. Petrie, Sheriff Depute, Mr. Sandilands and several gentlemen of the lower class from that place; from Buchan, Mr. More of Lonmay,[337] Factor to the Countess of Errol,[338] Cuming, younger, of Pitully, Gordon younger, of Logie, Cuming of Kinninmuth, Ogilvie of Achirris, (all gentlemen of considerable estates), Thomson elder and younger of Fachfield, Turner younger of Turnerhall, Fraser brother to Inveralachy and some others of less[Pg 122] note; also from the country about Aberdeen, Mr. Irvin of Drum, two sons of Menzies of Pitfodels, [Charles] More brother to Stonnywood, etc. But none of these gentlemen raised any number of men, but all rendevous’d at Aberdeen on horseback, with their servants, and made a pretty enough appearance. Mr. Sandilands only raised a Company of Foot which joined them there, as also did two companies raised by Stonnywood, the one commanded by himself, and the other by his brother; the whole not amounting to 200 men. These did indeed march south with Lord Pitsligo, but were afterwards incorporated in the Duke of Perth’s second Battalion. Lord Pitsligo and his friends were but short time in Aberdeen, but while they stayed, conducted with great discretion.

Rebels favoured by Commons

Hitherto the Rebellion was favoured by almost all the common people. The promise of freeing them from the Malt Tax had a surprising influence upon them, this being a tax the Farmers are especially sensible of, as they themselves pay out the money in the first instance being all Maltsters, at least for their own use. The Rebels therefore hitherto behaving civilly, listing only volunteers, paying freely, taking but some few good horses and arms as they met with them, and freeing the country people from the eternal dread they were under of the Malt Gaugers, were looked on by them as the deliverers of their country.

Why no Opposition made by the Friends of the Government

It may at first seem surprising that no steps were taken in two such countys by the friends of the Government to stop this procedure. But let it be considered that after Preston people were really in a consternation for some time, and nobody knew (as the intelligence from the south, meeting with so many interruptions, was very uncertain) how soon the Government might be in a situation to force the Rebels from Edinburgh so that they might have had leisure enough to have sent north Detachments[Pg 123] and destroyed all that would attempt to disturb their friends.

Besides it was requisite to have a man of rank and quality at the head of such a thing (as the Government thought not fit to give anybody the authority of a Lord Lieutenant) to give a proper weight to it. But such was the situation of the Nobility of these countys, that no such thing could have been expected of any of them except the Earl of Aberdeen, whose undoubted attachment to the Government as well as his large estate and high rank might indeed have made him very serviceable had he thought it prudent to have tried to raise the friends of the Government.[339] The Duke of Gordon, had it not been prevented by his indisposition, might have been of great use not only in keeping these Counties quiet, but even in suppressing the Rebellion altogether. The Earl of Findlater’s[340] sickly constitution quite disabled him, and though the Earl of Kintore[341] had had a greater relish for military matters than he has, yet the incumbrances on his fortune would have been a drawback on him. The Lord Forbes[342] had by no means an Estate suited to his ability though he had inclined to appear. The Lord Salton[343] had no weight in the county, and the Lord Braco[344] had a great estate, yet the newness of his family would have marred any project of his forming.

Gentry

Had the gentry that did not engage been all hearty, they might indeed have come together without any of[Pg 124] the nobility’s appearing to head them, but undoubtedly a third of them were dissaffected though they were wise enough not to embark in so desperate an enterprise; and of those that were not so, many were selfish, many were careless who governed, and many were timid and fearful, so that the few who were resolute had not sufficient strength nor influence to make a stand. The most remarkable of these in Buchan and Fortmartine[345] were Lord Strichen, Mr. Maitland of Pitrichy, Mr. Forbes of Shevis, Mr. Garden of Troup and Mr. Buchan of Achmacoy. On Don side, Mr. Middleton of Seaton, Mr. Patan, Grandam, Sir Arthur Forbes, Mr. Burnet of Kemnay, Sir Archibald Grant and Mr. Leith of Glenkindy. In Garrioch, Mr. Horn of Westhall, Mr. Leith of Freefield, Sir Alexander Reed of Barra and Mr. Forbes of Blackfoord. On Deeside, the family of Leys[346] with Mr. Duff of Premnay. (N.B. a great part of Deeside is in the shire of Mearns.) As to the towns, Banff and the Seaport towns betwixt it and Aberdeen were mostly all dissaffected. Full two-thirds of the two towns of Aberdeen were very well-affected to the Government. All the Magistrates, or rather those who had been such, before Hamilton came to town, and all the old Provosts and Bailies (which makes a considerable number of the principal merchants), and both the colleges behaved in an exemplary, steady manner. The Clergy of the Church of Scotland were to a man firm in the interest of the Government in these counties and indeed everywhere else, and neither force nor flattery could alter them. The Rebels at the beginning were at great pains to coax them, and to see if possible to make the face of a party among them, and would have been excessively fond of the least compliance, had it been only the not praying for the King by name, however minutely he should have been described otherways, well-knowing that if any would go into a different way from their brethren in any thing however trifling at first, that[Pg 125] difference might be blown up to make a more considerable opposition. They had particularly hopes of the young Clergy, as they had used to keep company with them more freely in times of peace, and not carry with so much reserve as their elder brethren, and so they thought they should have much influence with them. But they were excessively baulked when they saw them maintain with vigour and zeal those principles of liberty which formerly they thought they spoke of only for amusement, when they saw them at such extraordinary pains to raise worthy sentiments in the people, and sparing neither purse nor persons in the service of the Government as far as they had opportunity; and by how much they expected more friendship from them than from the old folks, so much the more were they incensed against them than against the others from whom they expected nothing.

Synod meets

The Synod met as usual in October in Old Meldrum, and though in the 1715 they would venture to do nothing, but immediately adjourned, yet now amidst no less danger they acted with much more vigour. They ordered a very dutiful and warm address to his Majesty which was afterwards very highly resented by the Jacobites, not only as it showed the loyalty of the Clergy, but confuted the lies published by the Rebels in their Edinburgh Courant, that the whole gentlemen in the county except four had engaged in the Rebellion, whereas the Clergy thought themselves obliged not only to vindicate the county in general, but particularly to do justice to the gentlemen of the Church of Scotland, by asserting that few or none of them had engaged in this wicked Rebellion. And indeed some gentlemen then in London owned themselves very happy in this Address, that came very seasonably, and had a very good effect, not only in taking off the bad impressions the friends of the Government had of these counties, but also in discouraging the Jacobites by undeceiving them of the vain expectations they had from there. The Synod also had a public diet[Pg 126] for Prayer to Almighty God to put a speedy stop to the Rebellion, which had a good effect not only on such of the laiety as were near enough to be present at it, but also tended to confirm and spirit up several that only heard of it. They also resolved, that whereas some ministers in their public prayers used formerly to think his Majesty sufficiently distinguished from the Pretender by calling him our Protestant Sovereign or some such other appellation, but as the omitting to name him expressly even though thus characterised was looked on as a compliance by the Rebels, who deluded many of the people with a story of their pretended Prince being a Protestant, that therefore all in time coming should pray for him by name, as they would be answerable. They also appointed that Presbyteries should meet often, and members be sent as correspondents betwixt neighbouring Presbyteries that they might advise with one another at this critical time and act with the greatest harmony. All this was punctually executed.

Nonjurant Clergy

There were but two Clergy of the Church of England in all these Counties who were qualified to the Government, both at Aberdeen, but here was a very considerable number of that persuasion who were Nonjurants, which is to be sure the same thing with avowed Jacobites, and though most of them had the address to keep themselves free from open acts of Rebellion yet they were excessively instrumental by every sly act to poison the people and debauch them to rebellion, and accordingly all their hearers, almost without exception, were rank Jacobites, and the being so, was by them esteemed so very essential to salvation, that even before the Rebellion they have been known to refuse to admit some of their hearers to the Communion not only if by going to a Presbyterian Church, but even if by going to a qualified meeting of the Church of England they had heard King George prayed for, unless they solemnly professed their repentance for this crime. After the Rebellion broke out,[Pg 127] several of them turned so insolent as to pray for the Pretender by name. All of this persuasion as they all along had a most unaccountable enmity against the Church of Scotland, so they failed not to show it with a deal of rancour during the Rebellion, to all of that persuasion.

Papists

It was but natural to expect that the Papists should favour the Rebellion to their utmost, but they are but inconsiderable in these Counties. Their meetings were quite barefaced, the Pretender openly prayed for, and a very great and good understanding there was betwixt the Nonjurants and them, so that Seaton, a priest, and Law, a Nonjurant minister,[347] were very commonly joined together among Lord Lewis Gordon’s council, who was made Governor of these counties by the Pretender. The Papists however generally had the cunning to be rather more tolerable in conversation with the friends of the Government than the Nonjurants were.

Lord Lewis Gordon joins the Rebels

Before the Rebels marched from Edinburgh to England they very wisely thought of means of retaining these counties under their subjection, while they should be marching south and of having reinforcements from thence ready for them against any emergence. For this purpose they wheedled over to their party Lord Lewis Gordon,[348] a younger brother to his Grace the Duke of Gordon, imagining that the very name of one so nearly connected to the Duke would have a great influence on the tenants and dependants of that family, and they well knew that[Pg 128] His Grace’s indisposition at that time would prevent any effectual measures being taken to stop this procedure. Lord Lewis was a Lieutenant in the Fleet, and had unhappily come down at that time to visit his Mother, the Duchess Dowager, who stayed near Edinburgh.[349] There he met so many old friends and acquaintances engaged in the Rebellion, who laid all oars in the water to gain him; and this indeed was no hard matter to a forward young lad like him, especially as he was to have a Feather in his cap, and to be made Lord Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire and Governor of the Towns of Aberdeen and Banff, with power of disposing of all places in them. Along with him is set down More of Lonmay, More of Stonnywood, Gordon of Avachy and Sheriff Petrie to assist him in his Government and Levys. There were also a number of Towns Burgesses named as a Council with them for the Town of Aberdeen and to manage under him in his absence but they all refused to accept; on which Mr. Moir of Lonmay was made Deputy Governor of Aberdeen, much indeed against his own inclination. He was a sensible man, but turned out very positive and arbitrary in his Government, which he had frequent opportunities of showing as Lord Lewis did not reside much at Aberdeen, and when he did, was always much advised by Lonmay. Mr. Bairde of Achmeden[350] was at[Pg 129] the same time made Depute Governor of Banff. This gentleman had shown his affection to the cause so far as to wait for the Young Pretender at Edinburgh with his white cockade, but it seems was not so far militarily disposed as to think of marching with them into England, but having a considerable estate in Banffshire, they thought he might be of service to them in this sphere; but though he at first accepted of this commission, yet he seldom if ever acted in consequence of it, and very rarely made any public appearance.

Men Raised by Force

The Lord Lieutenant began with his recruiting about Strathboggy, but as the waifest kind of people had mostly gone off in the first Levys, this was not so successful as he expected. Nay, on his first coming there, his summonses to his brother’s tenants to rise were so slighted, and volunteers so backward, that he was obliged to write to Blelack[351] and some of the gentlemen of Deeside who had a number of men with them, begging of them for God’s sake to send him a command of their men that he might not be affronted. How soon he got these, then he went to work quartering on the tenants about Strathboggy till they either rose or furnished men according to the proportions he had settled. But this was tedious, as he had but a small party to quarter with, and therefore he soon took a more expeditious way, threatening to burn the houses and farmyards of such as stood out. This soon had the desired effect, for the burning a single house or farm stack in a Parish terrified the whole, so that they would quickly send in their proportion, and by this means, with the few that joined as volunteers, he raised near 300 men called the Strathboggy Battalion in the country thereabouts. The same method of military execution (a discipline till then unknown in these counties) was used in most of the high parts of the shire for forcing out men, especially on Deeside, where a great many[Pg 130] were raised in this manner. Stonnywood however found people enough about the town of Aberdeen and places adjacent without force, to form another corps for Lord Lewis called the Aberdeen Battallion consisting of about 200 men, which with the Strathboggy Batallion formed what was properly Lord Lewis’ own Regiment; Avachy being Lieutenant of the latter; Stonnywood of the former.

Auchengaul raises a Company

About the same time Crichton of Auchengaul, a Popish gentleman of a very small estate, but representative of the Viscount Frendraught, raised a company and joined Lord Lewis. There were also several little people in Banffshire and Buchan, etc., who raised a few men each, and joined the Lord Lieutenant and all got commissions of one kind or other, which was by no means hard to be obtained. And thus the whole of this second Levy in the Counties of Aberdeen and Banff, under Lord Lewis would have amounted to near 800 men.

Comparison with 1715

As the above is a view of the whole course of the Rebels from these Counties, it may not be amiss to compare it with what it was in the 1715, from which it will be evident that for all the noise they made about their strength in these parts it was nothing now in comparison with what it was then.

In the 1715 they were supported by most of the Nobility. The Duke of Gordon (then Marquis of Huntly), the Earls of Mar, Marischall, Panmure, and Kintore, and the Lords Fraser and Pitsligo, who had all great estates, connections and dependencies in these Counties, raised their whole force and exerted themselves to the utmost in favour of the Rebellion. Whereas now Lord Pitsligo was the only nobleman that joined them unless Lord Lewis be reckoned. As to the landed gentry the difference is full as considerable. Though the most be from[Pg 131] Banffshire and Buchan, yet even there they are not one fourth of what they were in the 1715. Not one gentleman from Fortmartine unless Mr. Smith of Menie be to be reckoned, who indeed appeared with them at Edinburgh, but left them or they entered England. Not one gentleman that resided in Garrioch,[352] though in the 1715 most of them were concerned. Only five on Deeside from the head to the foot. And though there were several gentlemen of small estates on Deeside, yet all of them put together were not equal to the Laird of Invercauld who engaged in the former Rebellion. The Commons must always bear Proportion to the interests of the Gentry engaged, and though indeed this rule failed in so far at this time as that considerable numbers were raised from the estates of the Duke of Gordon, Earl of Aboyne, and Laird of Invercauld, where the Rebels had properly no interest, yet as almost none of the gentlemen that went with Lord Pitsligo raised so much as the men on their own estates, this will in good measure balance the other. There were several merchants of note appeared from the towns in the 1715, but now none but a few smugglers, and a very few tradesmen.

As the Rebels had thus a considerable number of men in these Counties, they next fell to work to raise money for their maintenance. And first of all they resolved to levy the Cess that was due for the current year, and all arrears, and accordingly the Lord Lieutenant named a collector, and without further intimation ordered partys to quarter for it. As it was soon moving from one house to another in the towns and country about them, as the quartering money was very exorbitant, their partys numerous and costly to maintain, and the Cess being levied only according to the valued rent, and not being anything considerable in comparison of the real rent and few being willing to bear the stress any time for a small sum, it was quickly levied in the towns of Aberdeen and from the adjacent estates. But in the country it[Pg 132] necessarily took up longer time so that they never got parties sent to some estates that were most out of the way, and some gentlemen, particularly Mr. Burnet, Kemnay, and Mr. Horn, Westhall, bore the stress with great firmness and wearied them out of it at this time, as indeed Mr. Horn at length did altogether.

The French Land

In the month of December there arrived six transports at Peterhead, Aberdeen, Stonehaven, and Montrose with Lord John Drummond’s Regiment on board and the Piquets from the Irish Brigade in the French Service; all under the command of Lord John Drummond.[353] This greatly elevated the Rebels, was magnified hugely to their friends in other places, and looked upon by them all as the certain prelude of a great invasion from France. The two Lord Drummonds[354] and the Lord Lieutenant had an interview at Aberdeen, the great result of which, seemed to be the forging a letter from Lord Martial commanding his friends to join Lord John Drummond (vid. printed Copy) and a Proclamation in which his Lordship, also to show him how well he was acquainted to the French Government, threatens to punish those who did not join him according to their intentions. The letter from Lord Martial was soon suspected to be forged, from its being altered while a-printing, and from the style of it, it being very unlike Lord Martial to speak of Commanding his Friends, but after Culloden it was[Pg 133] put out of doubt by one Mr. Halyburton, who had been sent from France by Lord Martial, how soon he knew of it, to disclaim the thing entirely, to let Lord John know how much he took it amiss, and to warn his friends not to be seduced by it.[355] The Rebels were on the other Speyside before this gentleman reached them, and how soon he informed Lord John of his errand, he was either closely confined or then discharged on the severest penalty from speaking of it, so that it was but little known, till the Flight, when he acquainted several gentlemen of it, who after that made it no secret. The French that landed at Peterhead, Aberdeen, and Stonehaven, stayed not above a week or so to refresh themselves, but marched south to the Camp at Perth.

Levy Money

The Cess went but a short way to answer their demands, next therefore they resolved to demand what was called Levy Money, or Militia money; accordingly Stonnywood by order of the Lord Lieutenant wrote Circular letters to the several gentlemen or their factors, demanding an able bodied man sufficiently accoutred in the Highland Dress[356] for each £100 Scots of valued rent, or then £5 Sterling to raise one. The man was but a pretext, it was the money they wanted. This indeed would have amounted to a very considerable sum; no less than about £12,000 Sterling for the County of Aberdeen alone, which will be 5s. Ster. in the pound off the real rack’d rent, which exorbitant demand would at any time have been very hard upon Lairds and Tenants but after two bad crops and so many other losses, was indeed more than they could bear. However these reasons availed nothing[Pg 134] to the Lord Lieutenant, or his Depute (who was by no means ignorant of the state of the counties) but to work they went, how soon they had got in most of the Cess, to quarter for it. This began at length to open the eyes of many of the people, who had been formerly cheated by promises of freedom from taxes, especially the Malt Tax, but now they saw how delusive these were, and this not a little confirmed the few who had all along wished well to the Government. Even the selfish among the gentry who professed not to care who reigned, were not now quite so indifferent, and even many secret Jacobites were disgusted.

Lord Loudon Invited

The friends of the Government seeing no end of this oppression, while the Rebels were their masters, sent several messages to the President and Lord Loudon[357] to send some men to their relief. They were especially instant from the town of Aberdeen, this being the seat of their Government, and consequently most exposed to their tyranny, which was so great that the usual freedom of conversation was entirely banished, at least none could promise how long they could call anything their own, and even already they were speaking of imposing a Loan, how soon the Militia money was levied. But their keenness to obtain relief and to persuade Lord Loudon to undertake it, probably made them represent the strength of the Rebels as more insignificant than it really was, which no doubt has been one reason why the party sent was not more numerous.

Burning Order

The Levy money coming in but slowly, for all the stress of quartering, which stress alone induced some to pay it, but some few that were such hearty friends as to need[Pg 135] only the pretence of force, the Lord Lieutenant grew quite impatient and issued what was called the Fire Ordinance (vid. Gent. Mag. for January 1746, p. 29th).[358] Party’s were sent to several Districts of the country, with orders to quarter on the gentlemen’s houses (not on the tenants’ as usual) and if against such a time the money was not payed, to begin with burning the gentleman’s house and Planting, then the tenants’ houses and cornyards and so on through the district. But notwithstanding of these dreadful threatenings, none but some very timourous people paid, till they should at least see what would be the consequences of the Northern aid which now began to be spoke of and pretty confidently expected.

Old Aberdeen Distressed

As the old town of Aberdeen had in proportion to such a place discovered a more than ordinary zeal for the Government so that the Rebel Governors distinguished it accordingly by a demand of £215 Ster. of Levy money, a very great sum for so small a village, and by beginning with them these new methods of raising it. They impudently[Pg 136] proposed it among the Whigs without ever regarding whether or not they had any property in Lands or houses and particularly the Masters of the Kings College had their small stipends very severely cessed. But when they could not even thus get their full demand answered, Lonmay ordered about £40 Ster. of it to be taken from the Poor’s Box and from some small funds that belonged to an hospital for poor widows and some other such charitable funds. Large parties were quartered through the town in the gentlemen’s houses for several days, but even this severe stress not proving effectual, intimation was made by Tuke of Drum, that if the money was not paid against a certain hour the Town was to be burnt. This indeed alarmed them and the gentlemen were forced to seem in so far to comply as to beg only delays till the money should be got, and this they had the art to obtain from time to time for two or three days, till at length they had pretty certain information that McLeod and Culcairn’s men were come the length of Banff and Strathboggy, on which most of the gentlemen of note in the place, slipped out of town or concealed themselves, without paying a farthing, and leaving the Rebels to do with the town what they pleased. But as they too were sensible by this time of the enemy’s approach they would not venture on such a severity till they should see the event.

McLeod Marches

As for McLeod’s March (vid. Gents. Mag., Jan. 1746, p. 23). It was Gordon of Avachy and Gordon of Aberlour that opposed them at the passage of the Spey, but they quickly retreated. They had the Strathboggy Batallion under their command and had been quartering for Cess and Levy money about Strathboggy and Banff. They marched to Aberdeen the day appointed for the Public Fast by his Majesty, December 17th, which however was very punctually observed even where they passed and in general was so both by Clergy and people both in town and country, though the Clergy indeed did meet[Pg 137] with some insults in a few places. Immediately on McLeod’s passing the Spey, the Rebels called in all their Quartering parties, and the Deeside men to the town of Aberdeen and sent expresses to their friends in Angus and Mearns to send them assistance.

The McLeods joined the two companies under Culkairn,[359] at Inverury, upon Saturday, December 20th, the whole body being 700 men complete. 400 of those under McLeod were quartered in the town of Inverury, the rest of that name and Culkairn’s two companies were cantonned in farmers’ houses along the Ury to the north west of the town, many of them more than a mile and a half’s distance though there was no worldly necessity for this, as the town of Inverury contained two regiments of the Duke’s army for some weeks without a man of them going a stone cast from it. Against night the Rebel Reinforcements were come to Aberdeen consisting of about 150 of the French Picquets who had remained at Montrose and more than 200 Angus and Mearns Militia, so that there would have been in whole about 1200 men at Aberdeen. All the Saturday the Rebels were exceeding careful to prevent any intelligence coming to the McLeods, securing as far as possible all the Avenues coming from the town, and sending out scouts to scour between Kintore and Inverury to the very water-side, these seized Mr. Bartlet an Aberdeen writer who had come along with McLeod and had ventured to Kintore (2 miles from Inverury), where also Mr. Dingwall, an Aberdeen merchant and some others coming with intelligence from Aberdeen were snapt up and carried in prisoners. The McLeods had immediate notice of this, but Culcairn (by whom McLeod was directed as he himself did not pretend to understand military matters) could not be prevailed on to allow any men to come over and drive them off, no doubt fearing as they were strangers in the country lest they should be surprised. But as by this means at length all intelligence stopt, this proved their ruin in the[Pg 138] end. Whereas by keeping some advance guards, or at least sending out patroles now and then, for a mile or two, they might indeed possibly have lost a man or two in Rencountres with the enemy’s parties, and possibly the reverse might have happened, but still they’d have secured the main chance and prevented the whole being surprised. However by this conduct though frequently things of considerable importance were known at Kintore, it was impossible to send the intelligence the remaining two miles. Nevertheless Sir Archibald Grant[360] who had come over the hill from the south, without touching at Aberdeen, and was certainly informed on his way that a reinforcement of French would that night be in town, fell on a way late that night to let McLeod know so much, and this intelligence probably prevented their marching to attack the Rebels the next morning, till they should know their situation more exactly. There was no body more alert or serviceable in getting exact intelligence to the Rebels than Stonnywood, as he knew the country and the people exactly, and as his estate lay betwixt Aberdeen and Inverury, he had all his tenants employed on the same service, so that on Saturday night they had perfect intelligence of everything that concerned the McLeods.

Volunteers

There were some Aberdeen gentlemen who had been either driven from town by the tyranny of the Rebels, or they had been sent on messages to the President, that came all along from Inverness as Volunteers in this expedition: among these were Mr. Forbes of Echt, Mr. Logie a merchant, and Mr. Thomson, General Superviser of Excise, which last gentleman especially was exceeding serviceable both on this, and several other occasions to the Government. The number of volunteers was increased at Inverury by Mr. Maitland, Pitrichy, Mr. Forbes of Shieves, Forbes of Echt, Mr. Chalmers, the now Principal of the King’s College, Mr. Gordon, Professor of Humanity[Pg 139] in the College, some merchants and tradesmen, several students of Divinity and Philosophy and Prentices from both towns of Aberdeen, and many more would have come if it had not been the difficulty of getting out of town. But as McLeod had no spare arms, and the volunteers could get nothing but pistols they proved of no service. Mr. Horn, of Westhall, by promises of great rewards and encouragement, had got his tenants to engage to follow him and join the McLeods, and as he foresaw he could not get fire-arms, had caused make a number of spears with iron heads, for them. But when it came to the push, they all drew back, their hearts failed them and they refused to rise. On which, on Monday he was sending an Express to McLeod for a party to force them out, but his express met them retreating.

A Detachment sent out

On Sunday McLeod was prevailed on to send a large detachment of his own company over the water for three miles, which had a very happy effect, driving off all the enemy’s Scouts and facilitating their intelligence, so that they met with no less than three persons from town that had come out in disguises and by byeways who brought letters giving an exact account of the enemy’s numbers and situation, which people otherways would all have been intercepted by their Scouts. This so entirely convinced the Lieutenant that commanded the detachment, of the necessity either of constant patroles, or then of an advance Guard at Kintore, that he had everything settled for one or other, never doubting but his representation would prevail, but there was no convincing Culkairn, so that next day there came not a man over the water at all.

The Enemy Alarmed

The Enemy’s Scouts on being thus driven off, having seen the party but imperfectly, alarmed their friends in town with an account that the whole of the McLeods were marching to attack them, on which they drew[Pg 140] together, but were soon undeceived. The same night after it was dark they convened their men and marched three miles out of town, as if to surprise the enemy, but whether it was only a feint to see if their men would stand by them, or if it was owing to any wrong notion that the McLeods were apprised of them, they returned to town again without doing anything.

Rebels’ Artifice

This day too, they had tried a strategem to raise a mutiny among the McLeods by bribing a tenant’s son of McLeod’s (who had been staying with a Nonjurant Minister, teaching his children Latin and so had imbibed all the Jacobite notions) to go to Inverury and see to persuade the men that they were engaged in an unjust cause, that their enemies were very numerous and powerful, and that Lord Loudon had purposely sent them up to be cut off in a strange country. As this fellow had their language, was their namesake and countryman, they readily listened to him and it was taking among them like lightening, till the fellow was found out and apprehended, but the impression still stuck to them, till McLeod drew them all out, and very particularly showed them the roguery.

The Rebels march

On Monday the 23rd, about 9 of clock in the morning, the Rebels marched from Aberdeen, in order to surprise the McLeods in two columns. The main body being about 900 was commanded by Lord Lewis (though one Major Cuthbert,[361] a French Officer, did all the business), crossed the Bridge of Don, and took a round about and indirect road on the North side of the Don. The other column consisting of their Strathboggy Battallion, and commanded by Major Gordon, a French Officer, and[Pg 141] Avachy, took the high road on the south side of the river. As they had all along guarded the avenues from the town very carefully, they did it now so effectually that there was no possibility of sending any intelligence of their march, till they were actually gone. When they were marching they all along kept advance parties before their main bodies came in sight, so that when they were observed, these parties prevented any persons getting past with information. As the body that marched the high road had by far the nearest way, they halted and concealed themselves in the Church and church-yard of Kinellar about three miles from Inverury, till the corps on the other side were suitably advanced, and meantime had their advanced party concealed in some houses in a low part of the road near Kintore.

This party seized the minister of Kintore, who had got some confused notice of their march, and going out for more certain intelligence, and observing nothing on the road, had come that length where he was made prisoner, as also at the very same time were no less than three people with intelligence of the Rebels’ march from the town, who had got out when their Guards were taken off, and escaped the main body by byeways, till being so near Inverury they had (to shorten the way) come in there to the high road, never doubting but they’d have met with some of the McLeods advanced parties to protect them, as those had done that came out the former day. The column that marched on the north side of Don had Scouts concealed among Planting of the Earl of Kintore’s on a rising ground that overlooked Inverury, and though some while before the enemy came up they were observed going backwards and forwards from the Park, and pointed out to McLeod and Culkairn as looking very suspicious, yet by some fatality they neglected to send up and see what they were doing. Immediately as they marched, the minister of Rayne, who happened to be in town, rode out by the Deeside Road, the only one left unguarded, to see if it was possible this way to get before them; but this was so greatly about, and the[Pg 142] road when he came to cross the country so excessively bad that the firing was begun or he reached Kintore. So that the first intelligence they got of them was the Main Body being observed by their sentry, marching down by the Earl of Kintore’s parks within a quarter of a mile of Inverury.

McLeods draw out

McLeod, Culkairn, and all the officers with the few men they had in town got together very resolutely, and all of them discovered a great deal of courage on this occasion, nay, to think at all of standing against such superior numbers bespoke no little bravery. And indeed had they thought of sending down a party to line the Church yard of Inverury, and had others rightly posted on a little hull, called the Bass, both which were within a pistol shot of the Boat and Ford of Ury where the Main body behoved to pass, and also on the Ford of Don where Avachy, etc., passed, they certainly had done great execution among them in their passages, and if they had not stopped them altogether, would at least have retarded them till the men that were canton’d at a distance had got up to their assistance, for the Rebels had no cannon, but two old rusty ones they had taken from ships, which got not up till long after the skirmish was over, and though they had, would not probably have done great execution. But the confusion and surprise of the McLeods at the unexpected coming of the enemy made them neglect all these advantages, and stand on the Rigs on the east side at the south end of the town, at almost an equal distance from the Foords of Don and Ury, but at so great a distance as to be able to do execution at neither; and their standing here too was probably not a little owing to their then discovering the other body of the enemy coming upon the other side of Don, which made them irresolute how to dispose of themselves till so many of the Rebels crossed the Ury as put it out of their power to stop their passage there. It was also a vast loss to these Highlanders, who were none[Pg 143] of them disciplined, that they had only firelocks and bayonets, and wanted their darling weapon, the Broadsword, which is always their chief confidence.

Rebels pass the Foords

The van of the Rebels’ main body consisted of the French and some picked men and was lead only by Major Cuthbert, these with all the gentlemen, the volunteers, and some of the common men crossed the Ury, very alertly, and as they passed, drew up behind the Bass, and the Churchyard. But many of their common men ran off and skulked by dike-sides till the action was over and could neither be brought out by threats nor entreaties till then. Major Gordon and Avachy with about 50 or 60 of their men crossed the Don very briskly, and behaved well, but the rest of the Corps took shelter among the Broom, till they saw the event.

The action began near an hour after sunset with a clear moonshine, by some passing shots from some ten or twelve of the McLeods who advanced so far, some to the one Foord and some to the other, and fired on the enemy as they were passing and killed two or three men in the water, and immediately retired. The Body that crossed Ury moved up first to attack, but were received with two or three fires from the McLeods, which they returned indeed two for one, but both were at too great a distance to do great execution. But as the party from Don was by this time coming to attack them in flanks, and as the French were advancing with a close regular fire and like to bear very hard on them, the McLeods found themselves unable to stand this shock, and accordingly gave way; yet not so but that a party of them loaded their pieces retiring, and finding some of their men, especially the wounded, like to fall in the enemy’s hands, they wheeled about before they were half way up the town, and made another fire, but immediately ran off. On this the French advanced through the town with an incessant street fire, and the rest divided themselves and went firing up each side of it, being too by this time joined by[Pg 144] most of their skulking companions. After this, as some of the McLeods were running off on the stubble ground on the North end of the town, some person gave a cry that McLeod was taken, on which they turned about again and made another fire but immediately marched off. The Rebels meanwhile being at a considerable distance and not observing them so exactly going off, but seeing a ridge with a few furrows in it, amidst a great deal of unploughed stubble ground, and taking it by the moonlight for a row of men, they fired once or twice into it very successfully. And thus in whole the firing continued for more than twenty minutes. The companies of McLeods and Monroes that were cantonn’d out of the town, had unluckily no Officers with them; these happened to be with McLeod in Inverury, and went out to engage along with the men that were there (which by the bye as there were thirty of them on guard, and many straggling through the country seeking provisions did not much exceed three hundred), these therefore having no body to draw them together, ran up different ways on hearing the firing till they met some of their friends flying, or were informed of the event, and then they ran off. But had their officers been with them to bring them together, and lead them up in a body to meet their friends at the north end of the town and support them, they very possibly might have turned the scale in their favours.

Loss on both sides

The Rebels for a while concealed their loss, but ’tis now generally allowed they had at least ten or twelve killed, several of these French, but all common men. It is indeed generally believed that one of them was a French Officer, as he was put in a grave by himself with several Popish Ceremonies, though not certain. But the Rebels still refuse that it was an Officer. They had also a good many wounded, among whom was Mr Gordon of Birkenbuss, a gentleman of a small estate, very dangerously.

The McLeods again had only five killed dead on the spot, which was well known, as their bodies were left exposed for some days or they allowed them to be buried.[Pg 145] One also died of his wounds in the retreat, as did another that was taken prisoner, but they were all common men. About thirty were taken prisoners (many of which were wounded) including ten or twelve Humlys (Colones)[362] that they had picked up. Among the prisoners were Mr. Gordon, Ardvach, Lieutenant of Culkairn’s Company, Mr. Chalmers, Principal of the King’s College, and Mr. Forbes of Echt; McLeod’s own piper, McGrimman,[363] happened also to be taken, and the piper is always looked on as a person of importance in a Highland Chief’s retinue, but McGrimman especially was a respectable person being esteemed the best piper in the Highlands, having had most of the Clan pipers as his scholars, and being looked on by them as a kind of chief, and the veneration they had for him appeared when he was carried prisoner to their army at Stirling, for it is said not a Highland piper would play a tune till McGrimman was allowed to be on his parole, and he himself behaved with so much state that he would play to none of them till their prince himself desired him. Mr. Maitland, Pitrichy, escaped to Keithhall, the house of the Earl of Kintore, the night of[Pg 146] the engagement, where he concealed himself all next day, but unluckily venturing to show himself to Petry, the Sherriff Depute, who intruded himself that night on the Earl, and Mr. Maitland, and he squabbling over drink, Petry not only in violation of the laws of hospitality, and of many obligations he was under to the Earl of Kintore, but also of his own promise to the contrary, basely went off next morning and sent a party of the Rebels who seized him.

The Rebels do not venture to pursue

The McLeods passed the Ury about a quarter of a mile from the town and refreshed themselves at Rayne and Strathboggy, but stopped not a night till they got over Spey, where McLeod waited the coming up of such of his men as had gone other roads, and continued guarding the passes for some while after. But the Rebels were so apprehensive what might be the consequences when for ought they knew, they were joined by the Monroes, etc., that they would not venture to pursue them over the Ury. McLeod lost most of his baggage, but the greater part came not into the Rebels custody but was secreted and pilfered by the townsfolks.

Mr. Horn stress’d

As the Rebels were informed of Mr. Horn’s design of joining the McLeods, they were exceeding keen in their resentment against him, and immediately sent a party to seize him, but he luckily had gone out of the way. The party lived a good while at his house at free quarters and made very free with everything, demanding the arms he had made, and the Cess Levy money, but Mr. Horn had left positive orders though they should burn the house to give them neither, and as their Officers had by this time got pretty certain information that their affairs were wrong in England and their Prince retreating, they did not choose in these circumstances to do such a shocking thing. And it was certainly a lucky thing that they got this intelligence to calm them after the flush of their Inverury victory, or then the Fire Order had undoubtedly been put in execution in these counties.

[Pg 147]

Quartering for Levy Money

The towns of Aberdeen having now no relief were obliged to pay their Quota of Levy money, that of the New town amounted to about £500 Sterling. A party of the Clan Chattan (Mclntoshes, Shaws and McGilavrys) under McGilavry of Dunmaglass, being now come up from Dundee to support their friends in Aberdeen in case of a straight, these for the greater terror were employed as far as possible for quartering in the gentlemen’s houses in the country for the Levy money. But the Rebels finding it would take longer time to get people forced to give the whole of their exorbitant demands than they could bestow, as they foresaw that in a week or so they must march to reinforce their friends in the South, they were therefore willing to compound the matter and take half in hand, and a bill for the other half payable at Candlemass, and in this way they gathered in a good deal of money. But still there were several gentlemen stood out for a good while under all the hardships they imposed, especially Mr. Leith of Freefield (whom they also kept a while Prisoner), Mr. Patan of Grandsam, and Mr. Burnet of Kemnay. Mr. Burnet’s zeal for our constitution, and the endeavours he used to awaken the British spirit among his neighbours, had rendered him excessively obnoxious to the Rebels, they hunted him for some weeks from place to place, to seize him, but he at length got to Edinburgh, where he was obliged to stay till his Royal Highness marched for Aberdeen.

Rebels called up

The resolute delays of some few gentlemen, and the great number they had to quarter upon, made it impracticable for the Rebels to collect their Levy money from much more than one half of these counties, before they were called up and obliged to march and reinforce their friends in the South, so that almost all Buchan, and most of the more remote estates in both Banff and Aberdeenshire escaped at this time.

[Pg 148]

Elsick’s Men, and McGregors come to Aberdeen

Soon after Lord Lewis marched up with the whole of the Rebels from this country, there arrived a Spanish ship at Peterhead with arms and money, which brought a party of Elsick’s[364] men from the Mearns to possess Aberdeen and bring up this loading; but they being looked on as weak, a party of the McGregors joined them. None of these parties however ventured to the country but only while they were bringing up their cargo from Peterhead. Lord Lewis had been abundantly arbitrary in his Government, Horses and Arms had been everywhere seized throughout the counties, under the pretence of searching for arms; in houses both in town and country many things had been pilfered with impunity, and he himself treated everybody with a great deal of insolence, but all this was but a jest in comparison with these McGregors. They went to people’s houses through the town and always behaved so very rudely as to make them forced to give them money to go away. They would stop gentlemen on the streets openly, and either take their silver buckles and buttons from them, or oblige them to give so much to redeem them. Without the least provocation they would beat and abuse people; and whenever they took it into their heads to enquire about any gentlemen’s principles they met with, they came up with their broadswords drawn and asked what King they were for? If they hesitated the least in answering ‘King James,’ they were sure of a slap, and never got away till they sat down on their knees and swore to the Pretender, and cursed King George in any terms the ruffians pleased. But happily they soon went off with the arms and left Elsick’s men only to guard the town. These continued mostly till the retreat of their army and behaved pretty civilly; indeed though they had inclined to do otherwise, yet the town’s people not being under so much restraint as formerly, began to show themselves so keenly,[Pg 149] that they made them glad to be peaceable, for fear of their being mobbed.

Rebels retreat from Stirling

The whole Rebel Army, except the Clans that went the Highland road with their Prince, passed through Aberdeenshire on their retreat from Stirling. They marched in two columns (the clans making a third), Lord Lewis Gordon’s men, the Deeside men, Glenbucket’s men and some other body’s forming one column and marching in the high road to Strathboggy. The rest of their army formed another column and marched with such baggages as they had got off from Stirling, or the Clans had left them, through the town of Aberdeen. They were commanded by Lord George Murray and consisted mostly of the Athole Brigade, French, Lord Ogilvies men,[365] Cromarty’s, Kilmarnock’s, Kelly’s,[366] Elsick’s, Lifeguards, Hussars, and all their other Lowland Corps. They stayed but short while in Aberdeen and so had not great opportunity of doing much mischief, though they seemed not at all averse to do it. For the ill situation of their affairs and their marching in such cold stormy weather, put them in a great fret. They threatened dreadful things against they should return Conquerors, particularly against the Clergy of the Church of Scotland, on which subject none was more violent than Lord John Drummond, who once and again proposed the hanging of some of them for examples; and indeed the Clergy were so sensible of their danger, that if the Duke had been obliged to retreat again, most of them had resolved to prepare to leave the country. They divided at Aberdeen and marched to Spey, some by Old Meldrum and Banff and some by Inverury and Strathboggy. At Speyside they all joined and met there[Pg 150] with the other column. There was a good deal of pilfering by their stragglers in this march, but when the country people had the resolution to oppose them, they behaved very cowardly. The minister of Clate[367] in particular and a few of his parishioners unarmed, took the guns and bayonets from two Strathboggy men who fired on the people for finding fault with their robbing a dyeing woman of her bedclothes.

Hussars and Stonnywood’s men left in Aberdeen

Stonnywood’s men though they had marched so far in the Highroad, yet came off from the rest of their corps and marched down by Deeside to Aberdeen, where they remained after the main body had left it, along with the Hussars under one Colonel Baggot,[368] a French Officer, and a very rough sort of man and so exceeding well fitted to command the Banditti of which that Corps was composed, and to distress a country. The Lord Lieutenant was along with their Prince, so Lonmay, the Depute Governor, had the chief direction, though both he and Stonnywood pretended that most of the extravagant things done by the Hussars, was owing to Baggot. They immediately fell to work to collect the remains of the Levy money. And now they had a new contrivance to force it. These fellows, the Hussars, went galloping about, and seized the gentlemen that were refractory, or their factor, or then the principal tenants, if none of the former could be found, and brought them in prisoners to Stonnywood and Baggot, the last of whom was sure to use them very roughly. But most of the gentlemen absconded, and some of the few they got stood out against all their bad usage, as particularly Mr. Innes, Factor to the Earl of Kintore. The Tenants which they seized had not the money to give so they were obliged at length to[Pg 151] let them go and made but very little of this method. The Hussars were vastly rude and expensive wherever they went, and failed not to pick up any horses as they come along that were remaining. But for all their roughness, people that would venture to stand their ground, would sometimes get the better of them. One instance of which was at New Dear when two of them armed with pistols were taking a gentleman’s horse and money, the minister of the place[369] being only with the gentleman, and both of them only with staves in their hands; the minister first knocked down one of the fellows and the gentleman the other, and disarmed them both and set them off.

Some of Fitzjames Dragoons land

The Saturday before his Royal Highness came to town, a French ship landed some of the Dragoons of Fitzjames’ Regiment at Aberdeen with their riding furniture.[370] There had come afore about the same time another French ship with the money for the Pretender’s use, but the Master thought it dangerous to land it at Aberdeen as the Duke was so near, and so sailed about for Peterhead where it was received by Lonmay.[371] Fitzjames’ Dragoons marched off next day, as did also Stonnywood and his men with the Hussars, and thus the town of Aberdeen at length got free of the Rebel Government, after it had been about five months subject to it.

Duke of Cumberland comes to Aberdeen

The Tuesday thereafter General Bland arrived in town with the van of the Army under the Duke of Cumberland,[Pg 152] and his Royal Highness on the Thursday thereafter. The Burgesses lined the streets all the way from the Duke’s entry into the town to his lodgings. He was immediately waited on by the nobility and gentry of town and county, and next day by the Colleges and Clergy who had assembled in a Synod pro re nata and had all the honour to kiss his hand. Mr. Osborne, Principal of the Marischal College, made a short congratulary speech to his Highness in name of the colleges, as did Mr. Theodore Gordon, Moderator of the Synod in name of the Clergy, and both had gracious returns.

More of Fitzjames’ Dragoons land in Buchan

Soon after this another of the Transports with Fitzjames’ Dragoons having got information on the coast, of the Duke’s being at Aberdeen, landed in Buchan[372] and then very narrowly escaped from the Duke’s Picquets who were ordered out to intercept them.

Lord Ancrum[373] marches to Curgaff

As to Lord Ancrum’s expedition to Curgaff, a house belonging to Forbes of Skeleter in Strathdon (vid. London Gazette, March 11th), Glenbucket was then with a few men within a few miles of Strathdon. But his numbers were greatly magnified, and his being actually at hand was so artfully insinuated to a minister’s wife in the neighbourhood, that with the honestest intention in the world, she gave a false alarm which made his Lordship in such a hurry that though he destroyed the powder, yet he only scattered the ball, broke a few of the arms, and carried off a very few, the rest falling all into the hands of the country people. And yet one might imagine that, as his dragoons were not to gallop off and[Pg 153] leave the Foot, there had been no miss in making them dismount and walk for a few miles and loading their horses with the Arms, till they should come to some place where country horses might have been got.

Bland[374] at Old Meldrum

When part of the army under General Bland advanced to Old Meldrum, Barrels and Price’s under Lieutenant Rich[375] lay at Inverury which is on the ordinary Post Road to Strathboggy (where about 3000 of the Rebels under Roy Stuart were with the Hussars) and about 100 Grants that came to escort their Laird to Aberdeen[376] formed an advance guard on this road, as the Campbells did from Old Meldrum, where they were very alert and watchful, so that the Rebels never once offered to disturb either the Generals or Lieut. Rich’s Quarters. And indeed if they had, all possible care was taken to give them a warm reception. There was a bridge of boats thrown over the Ury on the road from Inverury to Old Meldrum, and a Guard midway betwixt the two Garrisons who could observe a blaze in the night time at either of them or anything happening extraordinary, and by a blaze could give information of it to the other, and the Light Horse, too, were quartered betwixt so as to form a line of communication.

Rebels attempt to surprise the Grants

The night before General Bland marched for Strathboggy, the Grants came first to the Kirk Town of Clate, which is about six miles south of Strathboggy and off from the high road to Aberdeen. As there were many[Pg 154] disaffected people thereabouts, the Rebels at Huntly had notice of it that night, though it was late before they came there, and they immediately formed a scheme of surprising him next morning. But Grant, suspecting such a thing might be done, wisely advanced a mile further the same night to Castle Forbes, a house belonging to Lord Forbes, and by the strength of its old walls alone not easily to be taken without cannon, so that next morning when the Rebels under Roy Stuart missed them at Clate, they returned without meddling with the Castle.

Bland marches to Huntly

Meantime General Bland had kept his orders for marching that morning so very closely that the Rebels had not got the least intelligence of it. The two corps from Inverury and Old Meldrum met at Rayne, and had it not been for a small accident, had intercepted the Rebels who were on the Clate Expedition and got to Strathboggy before them. For they, dreaming of no such thing, breakfasted very leisurely at Clate and stopped also at a public house betwixt it and Huntly. There was an exceeding great fog on the Hill of the Foudline, so that some senseless, idle people that were running up before the army, imagined that a plough that was going in the midst among some houses on the side of the hill, was a party of men; on which they gave the alarm that the Rebels were at hand, this was immediately forwarded by the liger Ladys[377] with a deal of consternation, so that some people of better sense gave credit to it and came up to the General with this false alarm. Whatever might be in it, he judged it safest for the men to halt and form, while proper persons were sent up to see what the matter was, who soon found out the mistake. But this trifle occasioned a stop for near half an hour or three quarters, and the Rebels were scarce so long in Strathboggy before the General came there.

[Pg 155]

The Enemy knew nothing of them till they came within sight of Strathboggy. They had but just come there, and ordered dinner, but they thought proper to leave it in a great hurry on Bland’s approach. Their Hussars and some gentlemen on horseback brought up the rear. Among these last, was Hunter of Burnside,[378] who for a good way kept within speech of the party under Major Crawford and the volunteers that pursued them; but managed his horse with so much dexterity, turning so oft and so nimbly, that they could not aim at him rightly; at length one of the Campbells shot so near him as made him start aside and gallop off, and as the forces took him for Roy Stuart, this gave occasion to the story of that gentleman being either killed or wounded. The soldiers were incensed, and not unjustly with a notion that Strathboggy was extremely disaffected: coming in to it therefore under this impression after a long march in a bitter bad rainy day, it was no surprise that they used some freedom with a few peoples houses, who, conscious of their own demerit, had locked their doors and run off, leaving nobody to care for the soldiers that were to quarter in them.

Captain Campbell surprised at Keith[379]

Next day the General sent up seventy Campbells, and 30 Light Horse to Keith, a little town six miles from Huntly, and half way betwixt it and Fochabers where the Rebels had retired. One Alexander Campbell, a Lieutenant, had the command, who had been all along[Pg 156] very alert on the advanced guard and had met with no check, though oft in as dangerous a situation, but next night had the misfortune to have his party surprised. This was chiefly owing to the dissaffection of the inhabitants, who conducted the Rebels at dead of night, not by any set road, but through the fields so as not to meet with the Patroles, and then having fetched a compass about, and entering the town on the south, by the way from Huntly, were mistaken by the Sentrys, to whose calls they answered in a friendly way, for a reinforcement they had some expectation of. The Guard was conveniently posted in the Church and church yard which was very fencible, and the Lieutenant, who had not thrown off his clothes, on the first alarm ran out and fought his way into them, and behaved very gallantly with his guard for a while. But the rest of his men, being mostly all taken asleep, and having himself received several wounds, he was at last obliged to surrender. The enemy suffered considerably, but carried off their slain, so that their numbers were not known. The Lieutenant was left a while with only one Sentry to guard him, on which he very resolutely grappled with him, disarmed him and got off; but being retarded by his wounds he was soon retaken and then they hashed him miserably and left him for dead; yet he afterwards recovered.

Popish and Nonjurant Meetings destroyed

His Royal Highness on coming to Aberdeen immediately stopped all the Nonjurant Ministers, and soon after ordered their Meeting Houses and the Mass Houses to be destroyed, which was accordingly executed both in town and country as the Army marched along, and indeed none were surprised at this piece of discipline, as these houses were not only illegal, but had in fact proved such Nurseries of Rebellion. The Priests had mostly gone off, and such as could be got were seized and confined, but neither ministers nor people of the Nonjurants met with any other disturbance unless they were otherways concerned[Pg 157] in the Rebellion. The Army also had orders to seize the Corn, Horses, and cattle and Arms belonging to those in the Rebellion, but to touch none of their other effects, and the generality of the Rebels had foreseen this and either sold or sent off these things, so that there were but few that suffered much in this way. If any parties of soldiers used further freedom in these houses, which was not oft, the Duke, on complaint made, not only obliged the Officers to be at pains to recover the plundered effects from the soldiers, but generally gave a compliment himself to make up the loss; as particularly to Mrs. Gordon, Cupbairdy,[380] he ordered £100 Sterling. His protections were easily obtained till a piece of the Rebels extravagance not only made this more difficult, but also obliged his Royal Highness to recall some protections he had granted, and gave up some houses to be plundered.

Cullon House plundered by the Rebels

The Earl of Findlater was at Aberdeen attending his Royal Highness, when his factor gave him notice that the Rebels who were thereabouts had intimated, that if the Cess and Levy money for his Lordships Estate was not paid against such a day, his house at Cullon would peremptorily be plundered. This intimation the Earl showed to his Royal Highness, who ordered him in return to certify them that if they took such a step, it would oblige him to alter his conduct, recall his protections and give up their houses to be plundered. Notwithstanding this threat, the Rebels actually pillaged Cullon House[381] at the time appointed, and his Royal Highness was in consequence obliged to withdraw his protections from Lady Gordon of Park,[380] and Lady Dunbar of Durn,[380] for their houses; and indeed the last of these suffered considerably, but most of the effects were carried off from Park that were of any value.

[Pg 158]

Thornton Disgusted

The famous Squire Thornton[382] who had raised the Yorkshire Company, his Lieutenant Mr. Crofts, and Ensign Mr. Symson, Minister at Fala (who had been both taken prisoners at Falkirk), had come as volunteers with the Army to Aberdeen, though they had never met with very civil usage from the regular officers who seemed not at all to affect volunteers. When Pultney’s Regiment was ordered from Old Meldrum to Buchan on a command one day, these gentlemen who declined no fatigue, and had usually joined that corps, marched along. But coming the first night to a little village called Ellon, the Quarter[Pg 159] Master would not assign Quarters to the volunteers as Officers, and none of the Officers would give orders for it, which and some other things of this kind effectually disgusted them, so that they immediately left the army and returned home. His Royal Highness in order to preserve the town of Aberdeen from any surprise after he should leave it caused fortify Gordon’s Hospital and placed a garrison in it under Captain Crosby, and in honour of the Duke it was called Fort Cumberland.

Duke marches from Aberdeen on Foot

When the Duke marched from Aberdeen[383] he endeared himself exceedingly to the soldiers (if it was possible to increase their affection for him) by walking most of the way with them on foot, generally using one of the soldiers Tenttrees for a staff and never going a yard out of the way for a bridge or any burn they met with, but wading through at the nearest.

On a long march of near 20 miles from Old Meldrum to Banff the following little accident much delighted the spectators. A soldiers wife carrying a young child, grew quite faint and entreated her husband, who was near with the Duke, to carry the child for a little way; the fellow said he could not as he was burdened with his arms. The Duke overheard, took the soldier’s gun and carried it himself for some way and ordered him to ease the poor woman of the child for a while.

Rebels not expecting his March

The Duke being stopped so long at Aberdeen, made his march at length as great a surprise on the Rebels as if he had not halted a day, for by this time they were grown very secure. The Duke of Perth, Lord John Drummond, Roy Stuart, etc., were all lodged in the minister’s house of Speymouth, and had more than 2000 men along with them. They were sitting very securely after breakfast, when a country man came over the River in great haste[Pg 160] and told them that the Enzie was all in a ‘vermine of Red Quites.’[384] But they were so averse to believe it, that when they ran to an eminence and observed them at a great distance they swore it was only muck heaps: the man said it might be so, but he never saw Muck heaps moving before. And after they were convinced it was a body of men, still they would only have it to be some of Bland’s parties, till their Hussars, whom they had sent over to reconnoitre, returned and assured them the whole Army under his Royal Highness was coming up.

Duke crosses the Spey

As to the Duke’s passing the Spey (vid. London Gazette, April 19th):—The Soldiers had got a notion that all on the other side Spey were rank Rebels, and so immediately seized a number of the sheep and other cattle as soon as they got over. But as the case was quite otherways and the people of that Parish had been longing for the Army as their deliverers, on the minister’s representing this, and what had happened, to his Royal Highness, he immediately ordered all to be restored that could be got unkilled, and gave the minister £50 Ster. to divide among the people for their loss, and if that did not do it directed him to demand whatever would, and it should be ordered. His Royal Highness took up his quarters in the minister’s, where the Duke of Perth, etc., had been but a few hours before.

Aberdeen Militia

Immediately after the Duke’s leaving Aberdeen the two towns raised several companies of Militia to prevent their meeting with disturbance from any flying parties. His Royal Highness named their Officers and gave them authority to act. He also named twelve Governors to have the direction of the N. Town, till they should be allowed to choose regular Magistrates. There was also a proposal for raising a County Militia, but the Duke’s victory at Culloden made it to be dropped as useless.

[Pg 161]

Ancrum, Commander in Chief

The Earl of Ancrum came to Aberdeen soon after the defeat of the Rebels as Commander in chief between Tey and Spey. Mark Kerr’s Dragoons were along the coast, Fleeming’s Regiment at Aberdeen, and garrisons detached from it to several places on Deeside, and Loudon’s under Major McKenzie at Strathboggy, with garrisons at Glenbucket, etc.

Houses burnt and plundered

Parties were immediately sent out through the country in search of Rebels, with orders also to plunder and burn their houses.[385] This severe order was not at all agreeable to Friends of the Government, who could in no shape relish Military execution, especially after the enemy was so effectually subdued. But it was not universally executed; most of the Rebel Gentlemen’s houses on Deeside were plundered, and some burnt, but these last were houses of little value and really no considerable loss to the proprietors. There was very little plundered in Buchan, some things only picked up by the soldiers in their searches unknown to the Officers. No Gentlemen’s houses were burnt, and only one or two farmers’ by a worthless fellow not concerned with the army, who by mighty pretences of zeal, had been employed by Ancrum to go with five or six of Loudon’s Regiment, in quest of Rebels. There were no houses burnt or plundered in or about the towns of Aberdeen; but a Tenant’s house in the land of Stonnywood, who had been very insolent. Glenbucket’s house was burnt in Strathdawn, as were also a tenant’s house or two about Strathboggy.

Order for Arms

Lord Ancrum’s orders for bringing in of arms were very extraordinary, and indeed cannot be better exposed[Pg 162] than by giving them and Lord Loudon’s in the same place, vid. Scots Mag. for July, p. 339.[386]

Ill Conduct of the Soldiers

Most of the Officers of Fleeming’s Regiment were but young men, and did not at all behave in an agreeable manner. They seemed too much to look on the Army as a community of separate interests from that of the Nation, and it was the common axiom of those even in highest command in Aberdeen, that no laws but the Military were to be regarded. They took it in their heads to despise all in civil capacity, and especially as much as possible to thwart the Governors of the town in every thing. They had no manner of confidence either in the gentlemen of town or country, not even in those who had merited so well for their zeal for the Establishment; such as Mr. Middleton of Seaton, Mr. Burnet of Kemnay, etc., nay, some of them were on many occasions ill used by them. The Clergy of the Church of Scotland, for as much as they courted and applauded them in time of danger, were now their common subject for ridicule; and a deal of spleen was shown against them, that it should be thought they had in the least merited well[Pg 163] of their country, and thus should have a title to some regard as well as the Military, and not the least pendicle of the Army, a Commissary of foraging Clerks, etc., but would have more regard paid to their representative than any Clergyman.

People Disgusted

Such was the injudicious conduct of the Lord Ancrum and most of the officers of this Corps, which soon raised great disgust and heartburning. The Officers only, associated with one another, were seldom troubled with any advice from anybody of consequence acquainted with the country; or if they were, were sure to slight it. This gave infinite satisfaction to the Jacobites who rejoiced in these dissensions. It was this mutual disgust which on the one hand provoked the soldiers in so riotous a manner to break almost the whole windows in the town for not being illuminated on the first of August,[387] when the towns people had no reason to think Illuminations would be expected of them; and on the other hand provoked the townsfolks to resent it so highly, for had there been a good understanding betwixt the Corps[Pg 164] and them, such an outrage would probably not have been committed, or if some illegal things had been done they’d as probably have been overlooked, or at least easily atoned for.

Immediately after this, Ancrum was removed and Lord Sempile[388] succeeded him.

[Pg 165]


[Pg 166]

A TRUE ACCOUNT OF MR. JOHN DANIEL’S PROGRESS WITH PRINCE CHARLES EDWARD IN THE YEARS 1745 AND 1746 WRITTEN BY HIMSELF

The manuscript preserved at Drummond Castle from which this Narrative is printed bears the following docquet:

This is to certify, that I believe the aforegoing Narrative to be a correct Copy of the Original, written by my late Friend, Captain John Daniel, which I have frequently seen and read, and conversed with him, on the subject of its contents: more particularly as to the facts of the Duke of Perth’s death, on his passage from Scotland to France, on board the ship in which the said Captain Daniel was also a passenger. To which conversations, I can conscientiously depose if required.

Witness my hand at Exmouth Devon. This 25th day of September 1830.

R. B. Gibson.

Signed in the presence of
Herbert Mends Gibson,
Atty. at Law.


[Note.—The notes in this narrative which are indicated by asterisks are written on the Drummond Castle manuscript in a later hand.]


[Pg 167]

A TRUE ACCOUNT OF MR. JOHN DANIEL’S PROGRESS WITH PRINCE CHARLES

As Fortune, or rather Providence, has screened, conducted and brought me safe out of so many miseries and dangers; gratitude obliges me to be ever-thankful to that Omniscient Power, by whose particular bounty and goodness I now live, and survive a Cause, which, though it be now a little sunk, will, I doubt not, one day or other, rise again, and shine forth in its true colours, make its Hero famous to after-ages, and the Actors esteemed and their memory venerable. But since it is not permitted to pry into futurity, we may at least take a retrospective view of our own or others’ actions, and draw from them what may amuse, instruct or benefit human Society, and by that means fulfill in some measure the end for which we were sent into this world. Conceiving it therefore to be the best method of shewing my gratitude to Divine Providence, I shall give a short but true account of what happened to me during the time I had the honour of being a soldier under the banner of a most beloved Prince; hoping that the indulgent reader, whom curiosity may induce to peruse the following pages, will pardon the simplicity and ruggedness of my style, which, I am afraid, will be the more strikingly conspicuous, as, in order to preserve the thread of my History unbroken, I have occasionally been obliged to interweave with my narrative some extracts from the Memoirs of another, whose excellence totally eclipses my humble attempt.

The lessons of loyalty, which had been instilled into me from my infant years, had made a deep and indelible impression upon my mind; and as I advanced towards maturity, and my reasoning faculties were developed, I[Pg 168] became so firmly convinced of the solidity of the principles which I had been taught, that, when arrived at the age of Twenty-two, I resolved never to deviate from them, but to act to the best of my power the part of a good and faithful subject, notwithstanding the customs of an unhappy kingdom to the contrary. Nor was it long before an opportunity presented itself of proving my fidelity to my lawful Sovereign; viz., when the Prince entered triumphantly into Lancashire on the 24th of November 1745,[389] attended by about four thousand armed men. The first time I saw this loyal army was betwixt Lancaster and Garstang; the brave Prince marching on foot at their head like a Cyrus or a Trojan Hero, drawing admiration and love from all those who beheld him, raising their long-dejected hearts, and solacing their minds with the happy prospect of another Golden Age. Struck with this charming sight and seeming invitation ‘Leave your nets and follow me,’ I felt a paternal ardor pervade my veins, and having before my eyes the admonition ‘Serve God and then your King,’ I immediately became one of his followers. How, and in what manner, I am now going to relate.

The brave and illustrious Duke of Perth (whose merits it would require the pen of an angel properly to celebrate, being a true epitomé of all that is good) halting to refresh himself at a Public-House upon the road, where with some friends of mine I then happened to be; His Grace, being truly zealous in the cause, asked of them the disposition of the place and people. They replied, that they believed it to be much in the Prince’s favour. After some conversation on one thing and another, the Duke did me the honour to invite me to join; which request being nowise contrary to my inclination, I immediately answered His Grace, that I was exceeding willing to do anything that lay in my power for promoting the Prince’s interests, in any situation he might judge most proper. Upon this, the Duke honoured me with a most sincere[Pg 169] promise of his particular patronage; and not a little proud I was of acquiring such a friend on my first joining the Prince’s army, in which I had not before a single acquaintance. After some questions, the Duke desired me to get in readiness and to meet him on horse-back at Garstang; which in about two or three hours I accordingly did. The army being then in full march for Preston, the Duke desired me to go with forty men round that part of the country which I best knew; which forty men being accordingly put under my command, I went to Eccleston and Singleton in the Fyld Country, where I delivered some commissions, and caused the King to be proclaimed, the bailiffs, constables and burgesses of the place attending at the ceremony. I dispersed several of the Prince’s Manifestoes; and Exhortations were made, in order to shew the people the misery and oppressions of tyranny and usurpation, which like oxen yoked down to the plough, they seem to labour under; and calling upon them to rise up and, like lions to shake off the infamous yoke which too long had galled the necks of free-born Englishmen;—to assert their liberties honourably both before God and Man, and to prove to the world, that they remained true English hearts, equal to their fore-fathers’, who once had given laws to foreign States;—to exert their liberties under a Prince, who was come for their sakes, and for their sakes only, and with their concurrence would make them most happy. But alas! notwithstanding all our proposals and exhortations, few of them consented to join the Prince’s army. Therefore, having assembled those who did come in, orders were given for them to give up all their arms; which being reluctantly complied with, search was made in several houses, where we found a few; and amongst the rest we entered the house of an honest Quaker, whom I had seen about ten days before at a Public-house, where he accidentally came in whilst I was there, bringing with him a gun and a pair of pistols, which he had bought. Calling for his pot of ale, he began to harangue the host and the others present, telling what an honest man the[Pg 170] Justice of the Parish said he was, and that he could keep all the Papists quiet. And with these, said he (meaning the pistols) I can bid defiance to half a hundred of Rebels. I then heard him with great pleasure, thinking I should have the satisfaction of trying the honest Quaker’s courage; which accordingly happened. For, meeting with him at his own house, I demanded of him, if he had any arms. Not knowing me directly, he said he had none, and that he was not a man of blood. Vexed at this evasive answer, I replied: ‘Hark thee, my honest friend, since nothing but an action with thy own weapons will get thy arms from thee, rememberest thou in such a place to have boasted much of thy courage, with a gun and a pair of pistols?’ At which being much struck and hanging down his head he seemed greatly terrified. ‘How now,’ said I, ‘honest Friend, thou that wast so lately so pot-valiant, where now is thy boasted courage?’ ‘Pardon me,’ he then said, ‘I humbly beg, and I shall most willingly deliver up the arms; for I have done much amiss.’ I accordingly took the arms from him, and went off, much pleased with the adventure.

All these things being now effected, on the days after I had first seen His Grace the Duke of Perth, we began our march for Preston; and on the road, passing by a house of a person, who had in the year 1715 been the chief cause of my Father’s misfortune, I turned my horse in order to have hanged the man and certainly would have done it, had not maturer thoughts intervened, and stopt my revengeful rage. Continuing our journey, we arrived at Preston about 2 o’clock in the afternoon, having with us 39 English Recruits, whom I presented to His Grace the Duke of Perth, giving him an account of what had passed. At first he seemed to be somewhat concerned; but, recollecting himself, he afterwards welcomed me back, and said, he doubted not soon to see a great joining, and desired me to come to him the next day—for the Army halted two days at Preston. So, taking leave, I went to see some of my friends in the Town; and, amongst the rest, to acquaint my Father with what I had done.[Pg 171] He approved much of it, and gave me very salutary advice, telling me always to have the love and fear of God before me, and never to deviate from my duty, but to act to the best in my power the part of a brave soldier, and never to deject but comfort all those I found in misery. He then said to me, that as the infirmities of old age no longer permitted him to espouse so good a cause, in which he had once been actively engaged, he would continually invoke the Almighty for our success and preservation. So kissing me, he gave me his kind benediction: and with the viaticum in my pocket I took leave of the tenderest of Fathers and best of Parents.

It being now the day on which the army marched from Preston, I waited, according to appointment, on the Duke of Perth, who told me, if I pleased, he would give me a Captain’s Commission in his Regiment; or, as one Mr. Gorogan[390] was to have a Colonel’s Commission over the English, that I should have a Company under him, and command the men I brought with me to Preston. The latter offer I accepted; and on being recommended to the Colonel by the Duke, I was made Captain; and Captain Larrey,[391] now living at St. Omers, was the other Captain, with 3 or 4 more. So we with the army began our march for Wiggan, where we were joined by a few more Loyalists. Having lain all night at Wiggan, we marched the next day for Manchester. The ringing of the Bells, and the great rejoicings and salutations with which we were welcomed, gave us mighty expectations. But too true is the saying: Parturiunt Montes, nascetur ridiculus mus.

Word was immediately brought to the Prince, that a number of men were at his service; and to please and content the Town, it was thought necessary, that what men were raised at Manchester—vizt., the English Regiment—should be called the Manchester Regiment, and[Pg 172] all inferior Officers displaced as not being sufficiently Manchesterfied. However, regarding how matters went, I observed a little Man, by name Morgan,[392] deputed by the Prince with orders to inspect and commission new[Pg 173] Candidates, come into the room appointed for that purpose, and after salutations made, take his place at the head of the Table, with the Blackguard Dog[393] at his elbow, whether coming there by orders or impudence, I know not. Mr. Morgan began to tell the reason of his being sent, saying, that His Royal Highness was highly charmed at the report he had heard of the great number of Manchester men who were to join his standard; and assured them all of his particular protection, and of his willingness to grant them every favour in his power. This Declaration gave great joy to all present.

A dispute then arose concerning the making of a new Colonel:[394] but taking a dislike at some of their proceedings, I gave up all pretentions to anything amongst them, and joined Lord Elcho’s Guards;[395] so the place was vacant.[Pg 174] The rest however were called upon to be Regimental Captains, and so on, according as the aforesaid pursuivant of Mr. Morgan notified: for, on demand who was to be the first Captain, all, conscious of each other’s merit, were silent; till he, with a face of assurance, named such a man, for he had great interest; after him, another, for he could raise a great number of men; and after him another, for he had great merit and power; till all the Captain’s Commissions were disposed of according to his direction; and then, looking about him, he said of the rest, it was hang choice which was pitched upon first.

The Manchester Officers, being now formed, agreed to petition the Prince to stay another day there; which he agreed to in the expectation of raising a great number of men. I was as credulous as they: but was much surprised to see the next day those men whom I had brought from behind Preston, and on the road thence to that place, enrolled for the most part in the Manchester Regiment, and thus Manchesterised, if it may be said so: and much troubled I was to see many of those men who had followed me, had been paid out of my own pocket and been under my care till our arrival in Manchester, disposed of, nay taken away from me in that manner.

Quos Ego—sed motos praestat componere fluctus.

However, being willing to be as useful as possible to the cause, I acquiesced in whatever they thought proper. The Prince, tho’ again requested to stay, being weary of delay to no purpose, ordered the following day the army to make a short march, and gave leave to the Manchester Regiment to stay a day longer to get more recruits, on promise to march up to the army the day after: which we did; but our stay was not productive of much benefit.

The Comand of the Army, which till then had been the Duke of Perth’s, was at this time given to Lord George Murray.[396] The real cause of this change I cannot pretend[Pg 175] to divine: all I can say, is that the received opinion amongst us was that Lord George being looked upon as a man, whose name would bear a greater sway in England, especially amongst loyal Protestants, and help to efface the prejudice and notion of Popery and arbitrary Power, which some, though vainly imagined were rushing in like a torrent upon them; it was just proper to place the chief command in him: and the Duke of Perth, for the good of his King and Country, most readily resigned, shewing himself willing to promote the cause in any station, and giving a notable example of a brave warrior, willing to command and willing to obey. Whether there was any other secret reason, I must leave it for time to unfold.

The Army being now arrived at Congleton in Cheshire, nothing particular happened there, except that a patrol took one Captain Wier, a famous spy,[397] with seven dragoons, who were feasting at a house some distance off. This Wier was by birth a Scotchman, and had been employed in many villanies, and having served the Court not only as a spy upon us, but amongst other foreign Powers, had been promoted for his diligence in this business. He was conducted back with us to Carlisle—how unfortunate for us, that he was not put to death, considering what he has since done!—but his life was saved through the innate clemency of the Prince, though he merited the worst of punishments.

On the first of December we departed from Macclesfield, in order to march to Leek; where we staid all night, and marched the next day for Derby. All that morning it was rumored amongst us, that we should have an engagement as the enemy’s army was said to be lying about five or six miles from us at Newcastle and Stone in Staffordshire. So we marched in the best order we could to receive them: and about eleven o’Clock, having espied a party at[Pg 176] some distance on the mountains, we drew up in order of battle, and stood so for some time, and would have fought them: but perceiving it was a false alarm, we continued on our route to Derby, where we arrived somewhat late and fatigued. But two days’ repose sufficiently refreshed us.

Derby is a large and handsome town. The heads of it were much terrified at our entrance, many of them having made large subscriptions to Government; and therefore had quitted their houses with the utmost precipitation. It fell to my lot to be quartered in one of them, vizt., one Mr. Chambers. Coming in with my billet, I asked if I could lodge there. The Steward immediately replied that I could—adding ‘And any thing we can do for you, shall be done: only pity us in our situation, which is most deplorable.’ At this wondering much what he meant, I told him to be of good courage—that neither I nor any of us were come to hurt him or any one. Having thus abated the horrid notion they had of us, which was only capable of being conceived too hard for expression, being so very strange; he conducted me to the Housekeeper, who was also in tears. She was somewhat seized with horror at the sight, though my countenance was none of the roughest: but soon collected herself and made the same answer with the utmost feminine tenderness, putting themselves and the whole house under my mercy. I truly was much surprised, for anything of this kind was quite new to me: however, after pulling off my riding-coat and boots she conducted me into a fine room; where, at entering, I perceived a number of jewels and watches lying confusedly up and down, and many things else in the utmost confusion. I demanded, to whom they belonged, and what was the reason of their being so carelessly laid up. The housekeeper then began to tell me the whole affair—‘Sir,’ said she, ‘Mr. Chambers, the master of this house, no enemy to you, has retired with his lady and family into the country,’ ‘Why so?’ said I. ‘Not conscious,’ replied she, ‘of any thing particular against you, but out of fear of what the Highlanders might do against him.’[Pg 177] She then begged, that I would have compassion on them, and be their protector; which, after some short discourse, I promised, telling them, that what was consistent with reason, and a countryman, they should always find in me. I then ordered all the things that lay so confusedly thrown about, to be locked up, assuring them, that nothing should be touched or broke open, unless with authority. So for two days I ruled master there, and, I hope they will generously acknowledge, much to their content and satisfaction in that situation of affairs—having preserved the Young Lady’s jewels from the hand of rapine, and hindered the house from being damaged.

A rumor was here spread amongst us, that Cumberland Will and Ligonier[398] intended to give us battle; which I believe would have happened, if we had marched a day or two more towards London. Every one prepared himself to act in the best manner the valiant Soldier. But the Prince’s Council judged it more proper to retire back into Scotland without risking a battle, and there to await the arrival of foreign Succors. How far they acted amiss or well in this, I know not: but a great alteration was afterwards seen amongst us. The brave Prince at that out of a generous ardour and Love to his country, wished he had been twenty feet under ground! but, notwithstanding all this, a march back was agreed upon, after we had halted two days at Derby. Here I cannot pass by an accident that happened somewhat ominous—though I am none of the most credulous—but thence we may date our first misfortune. Great numbers of People and Ladies (who had come from afar to see the Prince),[Pg 178] crowding into his room, overturned a table, which in falling overturned and broke the Royal Standard—soon after our return was agreed upon—so I leave the reader to judge and make his reflexions on this. It would seem certain at least that Providence miraculously concurs, while such and such things are carried on. Thus, when Moses held up his hands, Joshua prevailed; but when through weariness he in the least relaxed the Israelites had the worst of it. So perhaps it was, that our enterprise was not vigorously enough pursued: and remarkable it certainly was, that the Royal Standard should be broken immediately after our return was resolved upon.

The third day being come, our march was proclaimed; and we began our return,[399] wondering what it could forebode. About this time we heard of Lord John Drummond’s Regiment having landed in Scotland, and that more troops were daily expected from France. Some few afterwards came, but the whole, including the said Regiment, did not exceed Five Hundred effective men—too small an assistance in the then state of our affairs![400] Soon after their arrival, Lord Lewis Gordon, being joined by the foresaid regiment, defeated Lord Loudon at Inverury, so completely dispersing his army, that it was rendered ineffective during the remainder of the campaign.[401] This happened very luckily for us; for if Lord Loudon had not met with a check, he would probably have been able to collect a strong army to cut off our retreat, or at least give us a very warm reception on our return to Scotland. This news therefore gave us[Pg 179] great comfort; and we courageously continued our march to join the above mentioned troops (in number one thousand men) by the same road we travelled before. The English Army, being informed of our retreat, immediately pursued us; but we found the saying to be very true ‘A good pair of heels is worth two pair of hands.’ Diverting it was, to hear those bells, which before had rung for us, turn to ring for them; we sometimes going out at one end of a town, whilst they were coming in at the other: and no less odd it was, to see the Magistrates who had canted when the Prince was amongst them, immediately after taking an opposite side, and cursing and detesting those whom they had just before saluted with a Judas-kiss.

The Enemy, finding that they could not come up with us, resolved, though very ungenerously to their own party, to endeavour to raise the inhabitants of the towns through which we had to pass against us, by spreading false reports, that the Prince’s Army had been entirely defeated, and that nothing remained for them but to exert themselves like good subjects, and to suffer none of the fugitives to escape. This report was believed in many of the towns: great rejoicings were made, and every man thought himself capable of knocking out a Rebel’s brains with a club or a staff. Then you might see heroic valour displayed among cocks that never crowed but among hens upon their own dunghill. But the malicious expectations of our enemies were disappointed; and what they had contrived for our ruin redounded much to our profit. Notwithstanding the mildness of the Prince during the march of his army through England, and though he had suffered no one to be oppressed, we heard betwixt Derby and Manchester, that the latter town had made great rejoicing, and had raised some men to stop us: but we soon made these mighty heroes tremble, and the town pay for their rash determination for entering regularly and triumphantly, we shewed them we were not the people they took us for, and convinced them, that our situation was not so bad as had been falsely reported.

[Pg 180]

Every one therefore, vexed to the very heart at being so deceived, began to lay upon the mob the fault of what had happened, and the Mob on the Heads of the Place, so that discord and confusion arose among them. The Piper, however was well paid for their dancing; for it cost them five thousand pounds Sterling—scarcely a sufficient atonement for their malice.[402] Here I cannot pass by mentioning a barbarous deed perpetrated before we came to Manchester which shewed the innate cruelty of our enemies on the one hand, and our clemency on the other. A young English lad, who had joined the Prince, being somewhat before the army, had through weariness laid himself down to rest under a hedge, and fallen fast asleep. He was soon perceived by a woman and her boy: and this cruel fiend immediately determined to murder him as he lay sleeping like a lamb, conscious of no harm; she accordingly with the assistance of her son cut the poor young man’s throat. The army coming up soon after, we espied the mangled body in that shocking condition; and on searching the next house adjacent, we found a young boy in bed much besmeared with blood, and trembling, who confessed the fact, and said that his mother was the chief author of it. They were both taken into custody, and a report of the whole made to the Prince: but he was against their being put to death, so that by a wonderful clemency they escaped the just reward of their crime.

We halted two days at Manchester, and on the third marched for Wiggan. When going out of the town, a gun was fired at the Prince by a villain, who, mistaking him, shot at a Mr. Sullivan, and luckily missed him. Search was made for him, but in vain—and no great matter for any thing he would have suffered from us; for many exercised their malice merely on account of the known goodness and clemency of the Prince, which however they would not have dared to do, if he had permitted[Pg 181] a little more severity in punishing them. The Army irritated by the frequent instances of the enemy’s malice began to behave with less forbearance. And now few there were, who would go on foot, if they could ride; and mighty taking, stealing, and pressing of horses there was amongst us, for none of us was ever sure of keeping his own. Diverting it was to see the Highlanders now mounted without either breeches, saddle, or anything else but the bare back of the horse to ride on; and for their bridle, only a straw rope. In this manner we marched out of England, many a good horse being brought in to give us a lift.

During our march to Wiggan, and thence to Preston, nothing particular happened; only the enemy continued to pursue us, yet we made no more haste on that account. I met upon the road my old patron the Duke of Perth; who asking me how I did, and how I liked the service. I told him ‘Very well!’ He then inquired ‘How I could bear the thought of going into Scotland’—and I immediately replied That I had ever been curious to see that kingdom, and was proud of benefiting the cause, or occasion that was offered. His Grace was pleased to promise, that he would recommend me to the Colonel, who, he doubted not, would be a father to me; as it accordingly fell out. Marching on to Preston, we halted there two days; and on the third in the morning, immediately after we had quitted the town, the enemy took possession of it. On our arrival at Lancaster in the evening, I was recommended to Colonel Elphinstone, afterwards Lord Balmerino,[403] who commanded the second troop of the Prince’s Life Guards. Having equipped myself[Pg 182] for that purpose when in Preston, I rode on somewhat before the Army, to be in readiness at Lancaster: but on the road, nine miles distant from that place, alighting from my horse to refresh myself at a Public house, and leaving my horse two or three minutes at the door; he was immediately taken away by some of the soldiers, and I entirely lost him. Vexed I was to be served so; and having nine miles to walk in my boots sorely harrassed me. However, fortifying myself with patience, and premeditating revenge, I at last, though somewhat late got up to Lancaster: and now being in great anxiety for a horse, being the next day to have the honour of riding in the Guards, I resolved to wait an hour or two till my servant Dick, a Yorkshire-Man, came up, and to make use of his horse, till such time as I could get another. But his arrival brought me little satisfaction; for, after he had refreshed himself, and I had told him the misfortune that had happened to me, he went out, and wrote me a few lines to the following purport:—

Dear Master,—I am truly sorry for your misfortune but I do not much like the Army’s behaviour; neither can I think of going into Scotland, and you know a Yorkshire-man coming home without a horse is laughed at. Therefore not doubting but you can provide yourself better than with this, I beg leave to be your Humble Servant Dick, promising to rejoin you, when I see you in these parts again.’

He left these lines with the landlord of the house to give me; which he did about an hour after.

So, being served a true Yorkshire trick, I lost both man and horse. I bethought myself of applying to one Mr. Grant,[404] Colonel of the Artillery, thinking there might be[Pg 183] a spare horse. When I had informed him of what had happened, he promised that he would endeavour to provide me with a horse the next morning, till he could buy or get another; which kindness of his was very seasonable. But going down the Castle-Hill, where the Artillery lay, I espied two Highlanders stealing a horse, and breaking down a pair of barn-doors. When they saw me advancing towards them, one of them went, and the other stood guard. Now I thought this a good opportunity to provide myself: So I went boldly in, and inquired whether Captain McDonald’s Horse were not there; the man answered he knew not; at which taking courage, and going up to the horse, I demanded whose that was. He made me the same answer. ‘Friend,’ said I, ‘if you do not, I do,’ and I immediately took the horse, well pleased, that I had got a Titt for Tatt (as the Lancashire saying is). So returning to my lodgings with my prize, I repaired to wait upon Colonel Elphinstone, who received me very graciously, having been spoken to before by the Duke of Perth. He welcomed me among them, assured me of all that was kind and civil in his power, and then invited me to sup with him. After thanking him, I accepted his kind invitation; and when I took my leave of him he renewed his promises of kindness, and desired me to be in readiness to mount next morning at his quarters.

At this time the Yorkshire Hunters[405] endeavoured to shew themselves against us, but little to their honour. This was a regiment composed of the Yorkshire Gentlemen, many of whom mounted themselves and their servants on the best light horses they had, and gave themselves the fore-said name. As we were marching[Pg 184] into Lancaster, these Hunters attacked some of our Light Horse in the rear: but finding they had caught Tartars, they quickly retreated; and being pursued, some of them were taken prisoners—so that Yorkshire seemed to be put upon Yorkshire.

About this time the Prince’s Council resolved to despatch some one with orders to Lord Lewis Gordon and Lord John Drummond, and the rest of the Prince’s adherents who were in arms, to meet us at Carlisle; and for this purpose the Duke of Perth set out attended by about One-hundred Light-Horse. When they arrived at Kendal, the inhabitants of that place, seeing them come in great haste, judged they were flying from the battle and endeavouring to make their escape, assembled in a tumultuous manner, and, after insulting them, at last fired upon them out of the windows—and at going out of the town, a ball was fired at the Duke of Perth in his Chaise, who, looking out courageously, noticed the place it came from. Though the ball happily missed the Duke it shot Captain Cameron’s horse. Being now out of the town, we resolved boldly to re-enter it, and quell that insulting mob. So, marching back, they took the man who fired the fore-said ball, and killed two or three: yet this villain escaped with only a few blows from the gentleman whose horse he had killed; though certainly he would have been put to death, had not the Duke interceded for him. The town of Kendal being thus appeased, we continued our route: but hearing that the Militia of Pe[n]r[i]th and other places, thinking our Army had been cut off, had risen, and were, in conjunction with the Hessians who had landed thereabouts,[406] intercepting the road they thought they were to pass; the Duke resolved to pass by another in order to miss them. But his guide, instead of shewing the right way, conducted them upon the enemy; so that ascending the summit of the hill, they perceived their danger, being within gun-shot of a great body of both horse and foot, which unexpected sight struck a great panic amongst the[Pg 185] Duke’s party. The Duke was for fighting his way through them: but Colonel Bagott,[407] Colonel of the Hussars, was of another opinion, and he being seconded by some others, a retreat was agreed upon. The enemy immediately dispatched some of their Light-horse in pursuit of them: but the Duke’s party retiring in good order, kept their pursuers, notwithstanding all their firing, at a good distance; and after being pursued five or six miles, returned upon them with such vigour, that they took three or four prisoners, rescued the Duke’s baggage, which had just before been seized, and made them retire faster than they had come. Finding it however in vain to pursue his enterprise, the Duke rejoined the Army.

We having staid all night at Lancaster, I went, according to appointment, to wait upon my Colonel, who, being mounted at the head of his troops, placed me in his corps. We were ordered that day to march in the rear of the army; and, as we left the town, the enemy immediately took possession of it, and followed us some little way out, so that we did not directly know their intention. But, finding they soon returned, we marched on (nothing particular happening) to Kendal where we halted all night and made the town pay for its past behaviour. We then continued our retreat in exceeding bad weather and roads to Carlisle: but by the severity of the season we were obliged to make a shorter march than we intended, and halt all night at a village called Shap, where we suffered very much on account of the bad accommodation it afforded. However staying there all night we assembled together early next morning. Some few of us got that night to Carlisle. But I cannot pass by an affair that happened at Clifton which was as follows:—The enemy’s advanced Guard, commanded by General Honeywood, having got somewhat before us, planted himself in ambush near the road we were to march, and from behind the hedges expected, as the army approached to cut them off; but there the biter was bit: for though we came[Pg 186] unknowingly upon them, we had the good fortune to receive their attack in good order, killed and drowned many of them, and put the rest to flight: General Honeywood himself narrowly escaped, having lost his arm, and severely wounded. This brave action was chiefly owing to the courage of the McPhersons, commanded by Clued McPherson,[408] their Chief, who behaved most gallantly on this occasion; and most pleasing it was, to see the champions come into Carlisle, loaded with the spoils of their enemies.[409]

The whole army being now in Carlisle, our thoughts lay for some time suspended in order to act for the best; for we supposed that the enemy would come and give us battle. I cannot say that we somewhat waited them, but finding they did not, it was judged proper after two days’ stay and deliberation, to continue our march farther North, and to leave at Carlisle the few English who were with the army and about three hundred Scots. But of this proceeding I can say nothing farther, leaving to the world to judge as they think proper. The English then were about two hundred men; for many had quitted and returned home being unwilling to go to Scotland. Now some there are, who censure the Prince for leaving them at Carlisle, thinking it was out of disregard and a desire of being rid of them: but if they will pry a little more narrowly into the affair they will find, that it was the desire of Mr. Townley Colonel of the English who not only petitioned the Prince in his own name, but in the name of all the officers of the Regiment, to be left there, though the latter never assented to or desired it, many of them wishing to undergo the same fate as their Royal Master. However on Mr. Townley’s coming back and[Pg 187] telling them that it was the Prince’s pleasure that they should remain at Carlisle, they all, taking it as coming from the Prince, most willingly acquiesced, shewing true English bravery in any situation to obey:—and now, seeing themselves deprived of the satisfaction of following him they so greatly loved, they resolved to accompany him still in their hearts—all that was in their power. They shewed a true generosity in disposing of all that was not of immediate use to them, viz., their horses and riding-equipage, to all who stood in need; and though I seemed somewhat picqued at them in the beginning of this Narrative, I must ingenuously own, that they were a set of brave men; and though it is often objected to them, that they were not of an extraordinary rank, yet they behaved so as to make those of a nobler birth blush; for, from the time they had the honour of joining the Prince’s standard, they never sought pay either for themselves or their men, honourably maintaining and supporting the Regiment themselves:—Unhappy Gentlemen! They merited a much better fate than what was awaiting them![410]

Every thing being now in readiness, we began our march, in order (alas! as it happened) to bid adieu to Old England for ever! On the 22nd of December 1745[411] (being the Prince’s birthday) about four o’Clock in the afternoon, we crossed the river Esk, which separates the two kingdoms. The deepness and rapidity of the river, joined to the obscurity of the night, made it most terrible: but the good Prince, here, in particular, animated the men; and how noble was it to see these Champions, who had refused him nothing now marching breast-deep,[Pg 188] one supporting another, till wonderfully we all passed safe. The Duke of Perth here signalized himself much by his goodness; for, crossing the river several times on horseback, he took behind him several of the common Soldiers, whose strength was not sufficient to bear up against the current. Nor was the Prince wanting in giving a notable specimen of his generosity and condescension to his subjects, in imitation of the Great Alexander, who, in his expedition into Persia, suffered a poor Soldier, much fatigued, to repose himself in the king’s chair, which till then it had been death for anyone but himself to sit in. So the Prince I think, imitates, or fully equals, this great hero in point of affability to his men; for, taking on horseback a common soldier behind him, he carried him over the water, giving us all a great example of goodness and courage to follow him. But at this river I narrowly escaped drowning; for in crossing it, and being near the middle of the stream I perceived two women (tho’ never an army was known with so few) rolling down it and in imminent danger of perishing if I did not guide my horse in order to stop them: and I had like to have paid dearly for it, for coming against me, they laid hold of me in such a manner, that I was not able to dismount; and being so beset by the two women, and my horse, who was none of the biggest, going down the stream with me, I gave myself up for lost. I did not, however, lose courage and conduct in managing my horse as well as I could; and perceiving a man mounted upon a very high horse wading where I was swimming, I called to him for assistance. He seeing me in that piteous case, came immediately, and rescued me from the imminent danger I was in of perishing, and freed me also with a great deal of difficulty from my two companions: but how I got quit of them or out of the water, I remained an entire stranger; being come to the other side, I was immediately seized with a great panic and trembling from the fright of the danger I had so narrowly escaped, and in this state I continued for three or four hours notwithstanding all the efforts I could make against it. That night however, being, as I said, on the other side,[Pg 189] somewhat before the rest, I saw them come almost half round together with my deliverer, to whom I did not fail to pay my most hearty thanks, as the poor women did to me.

But here let us stop and take a short View of the Army’s behaviour whilst in England. It may be said, and is allowed even by the judgment of our enemies, that never such an army could be expected to behave as they did, giving the greatest marks of generosity to our enemies, paying for what they had, and revenging or oppressing few or none; and shewing to the World, that a noble design rather than either malice, rapine or plundering, was at the bottom of our proceedings. But as I may perhaps be suspected of partiality towards them, I shall refer the Reader to what was acknowledged by one of our greatest enemies, viz., one Parson Bissett in Aberdeen,[412] who was one of the heads of the Presbytery, and much esteemed by his own party for his morals and great talents as a preacher. This Gentleman, mounting the pulpit, soon after we had left Aberdeen, and while Cumberland’s Army was there, began his Sermon with a comparison betwixt us and those then in town, saying: ‘When the Prince, as they call him, was here,[413] I made it my business night and day to inspect their conduct, and observe their most minute actions; and instead of finding subjects of complaint, I found much to the contrary, and drew honey whence I thought it was not to be extracted. I heard what they said and did; and I heard of no robbery, of[Pg 190] no ill towards the people: but since these men are come amongst us, what is the secret that is not revealed? What is holy, that is not polluted? What’s forbid, that’s not transgressed? and in fine, where is God or Man obeyed? Here, cursing and blaspheming; there Drunkenness, Whoredom and Debauchery are carried on in full career, and reign with unlimited sway.’ So, going on in this strain, he concluded by telling his auditors, that it was a shame to be out-done by us; that, in punishment for their sins, nothing less than the curse of God could fall upon them, and make instruments of us to punish them.

But now I shall return again to the river Esk. Having wonderfully got safe over, we marched all that night through excessively bad roads, all of us being very wet and cold, without any refreshment, except what we had before we left Carlisle, till ten o’Clock the next day, when we arrived at Dumfries; and extraordinary it was to see the Army, notwithstanding all their fatigue, come in as merry and gay as if they had only marched that morning. At our entrance into the Town, we saw the great rejoicing that had been made for our defeat, the candles being still in the windows, and the bonfires unextinguished. And now it was, that being in Scotland, my Colonel began to shew me great civility upon account of my being an Englishman, and so did afterwards several of the gentlemen of that country; for seeing me amongst them, they thought they could scarce do enough for me, especially my Colonel, who, for fear of my being any time badly quartered, ordered that I should always be lodged chez lui. So that from that time I had ordinarily his quarters, and sometimes a part of his bed, when there happened to be no other, so that I had every reason to be satisfied with my lot, having such resource of comfort in all my difficulties.

After we had halted two days at Dumfries, and made them pay for their past behaviour,[414] we marched on for[Pg 191] Hamilton; and here the Prince, attended by a few of his gentlemen, went to take the diversion of shooting in the Park; in which he behaved to the admiration and surprise of all present, killing or hitting every thing he shot at, so that, without flattery, he was looked upon to be the best marksman in the army. After we had staid some time at Hamilton, we continued our march to one of the prittiest (but most whiggish) towns in all Scotland, viz., Glasgow. Here we arrived on the 25th of December, 1745, much to their confusion, and halted six or seven days.[415] That Town had given, when the Prince marched for England, five thousand pounds for its good behaviour, and paid us now as much over again for breaking the same, rebelling against us, and raising the Militia in our absence. So we taught them more wit, how to break their words another time. The Army having been here provided with cloathing and other necessaries, of which they were very much in want, the Prince resolved to make a general inspection and review of them. Accordingly orders were issued one morning for that purpose, for us all to repair to a place at a little distance from the Town. So we marched out with drums beating, colours flying, bag-pipes playing, and all the marks of a triumphant army to the appointed ground, attended by multitudes of people, who had come from all parts to see us, and especially the ladies, who before were much against us, were now, charmed at the sight of the Prince, become most loyal;[416][Pg 192] and many afterwards, when they could not testify it to us by their good offices, did it in imitation in their hearts. I am somewhat at a loss to give a description of the Prince at this Review. No object could be more charming, no personage more taking, no deportment more agreeable, than his at that time was, for, being well mounted and princely attired,[417] having, too, great endowments both of body and mind, he appeared to bear a sway above any comparison with the heroes of the last ages, and the majesty and grandeur he seemed to display most noble and divine. The Army being now drawn up in all form, and every one putting himself out for the best, the Prince rode through the ranks, greatly encouraging and delighting all who saw him. After the Review we returned again to Glasgow; and about this time the unhappy news reached us, that Carlisle was invested by Cumberland, who, having got up cannon from Whitehaven, was in a fair way of taking it.

It being now judged proper to continue our march for Stirling, we quitted Glasgow in a handsome manner, and soon sat down before that town, which we took after two or three days’ cannonading, and then began the siege of the Castle, having just received a few pieces of Cannon from France, which would have been sufficient, as many are pleased to say, if our Engineer, viz., one Mirabell,[418] a Frenchman by birth, had been good for any thing: but erecting our batteries in an improper place against the Castle, we spent three weeks’ labour in vain; during which time news arrived from Carlisle, by Mr. Brown,[419][Pg 193] who was left Lieutenant Colonel by the Prince, and one Mr. Maxwell,[420] who made their escape over the wall while the Articles of Capitulation were signing. These gentlemen acquainted us, that, after Cumberland had lain six or seven weeks before the town, and heralds had been frequently sent in to summons it to surrender, Mr. Hamilton, Governor of the Castle had at last resolved to obey them but whether with a true fear or promise of his life, is disputed. Certain however it is, that he employed that villainous Wier, whom I have mentioned before (being left a prisoner at Carlisle) with secret Messages to and from the enemy; and instead of hanging him, invited him daily to his own table. How far this conduct was good, I leave the world to judge.

Mr. Townley, Governor of the Town, being informed that the resolution to capitulate was taken, endeavoured, seconded by his whole corps, officers and soldiers, to oppose him: but finding no means effective to hinder the place from being given up, he was obliged to send, by Hamilton’s direction, articles of Capitulation to Cumberland, who returned for answer That the Town and Castle should be surrendered at discretion, and that the Officers and Soldiers should be at his Father’s Mercy, with whom he promised to intercede for their safety. How sincerely he behaved in this, is sufficiently known:[421] and when I reflect upon this, I think I may say I have good fortune, in leaving that unhappy town and regiment, that I was not on some gallows or other made a partaker also of his clemency! This news was at first hard to be believed amongst us: but it appearing but too true, the Prince was exceedingly troubled, and lamented much the loss of his subjects,[Pg 194] especially the English, who were to be made sacrifices of; and also did generally the whole army, many of them wishing they had been there, nay even to be made victims of to Cumberland’s fury!

We had now scarce got well into the siege of the Castle, before news came, on the other hand, that General Hawley was advancing towards us with about eleven or twelve thousand men. The Prince’s Army at this time amounted to about eight thousand effective men, having been joined by Lord John Drummond’s Regiment, and Lord Lewis Gordon’s, of whom I have spoken before, and some few others. So, seeing we must inevitably fight we endeavoured to prepare ourselves in the best manner for that purpose. The enemy, we heard, were now come to Falkirk, which was only eight or ten miles distant from us. We waited two days in expectation of their coming on to attack us: but finding that they continued at Falkirk, we on the third morning, leaving a sufficient force for the siege of Stirling, boldly marched out in quest of them. And here it was the soldiers shewed the greatest alacrity; the foot marching with such celerity as kept the horse on a full trot, so that by two o’Clock in the afternoon we came up with them, notwithstanding we almost marched round them, in order to have the wind somewhat favourable for us. And now the day, from being an exceeding fine one, became on a sudden obscure; the sun which till then shone upon us, was now as it were eclipsed, and all the elements in confusion, so that the heavens seemed to fulminate their anger down upon us, by the impetuous storm of hail, wind and rain, that fell just at the time of the engagement. The enemy at this time scarcely knew any thing of our march towards them till it had been almost too late; as they lay in an entire security and defiance of us, thinking it not worth their while to take the necessary precaution of having spies out, as other prudent Generals would have done, notwithstanding the contempt they might have had for us. We now roused them out of their lethargy, being just upon them at their going to dinner. Cursing their bad[Pg 195] fortune, they immediately mounted and turned out of their camp, somewhat in confusion to meet us, which they did at a short distance from it, though not to our disadvantage.

Their cavalry was in front of their left wing, unsupported with foot; and their infantry in the right, unsupported by horse: but the day being so excessively bad, hindered their cannon from coming up, so that we were upon an equal footing with them in that respect, we bringing none with us. We were about four hundred light Horse ordered to face the enemy’s dragoons, being fronted and supported by a strong line of McDonells; and our foot, with the Prince, against their foot. Here I must acknowledge, that when I saw this moving cloud of horse, regularly disciplined, in full trott upon us down the summit, I doubted not but that they would have ridden over us without opposition (I mean the front line) and bear us down without difficulty in their impetuous progress: but I soon found myself mistaken; for immediately upon our bearing upon them in order to meet them, there blew such a storm of wind and hail, which was before on our side, and now turned miraculously, as we turned, on our backs; and notwithstanding that almost disabled us to bear up against them, it so harrassed the enemy, that cursing and blaspheming was made the dying-speech of many of them. And now kind Heaven seemed to declare for us.

The brave front-line of McDonells suffered the enemy to come within ten or twelve paces of them before firing. Nobly altogether presented, and sent their benediction upon them, so that in the third part of a minute that rapid and impetuous torrent, which seemed in rolling to lay all waste before it, was now checked and stemmed in such a manner, that it was made to retake its course faster than it had proceeded. Upon seeing this, we immediately seconded our work with a hearty huzza, victory now declaring for us. But on the Prince’s wing it remained somewhat more obstinate: yet soon after they returned the same, having happily finished their affair with scarce the loss of forty men, and we had only[Pg 196] one wounded. We now pursued them sharply for about sixty paces, and fetched down a good many of them: but unfortunately being ordered to halt, when a little further pursued would have finished our affair, we let an opportunity slip out of our hands, which never afterwards presented itself again. This piece of conduct belonged chiefly to Lord George Murray,[422] who would not permit the army to pursue any farther. So being ordered to halt, we modestly bid our enemies retire, and as it were tell them to come better provided another time. Here I could say something more: but I cannot at present; therefore I’ll say nothing, leaving it to Midwife Time to say it for me, and contenting myself with halting with the army.

And now after four or five hours’ halt, we heard, that we might go, if we pleased, and take possession of the town. So the army was ordered immediately to enter the town, and about eighteen of us Guards, who were present, to go about three miles off, and take fifty-four of the enemy prisoners. When we arrived at the house, where they had got together they shut the door against us. We therefore surrounded the house, and summoned them immediately to surrender:—which they refusing at first to do, we fired into the house—and they immediately gave themselves up to our mercy. So, after taking them and fifty-four stand of arms, we conducted them Prisoners into Falkirk that night. And here it was, that I happened to perform an action which gave me great comfort afterward in my distress.—A fine young boy, who was somewhat out of order, being found in the house after all was almost done, was espied by some of our party, who bringing him out asked who would take care of him. I told them to give him to me, which they immediately did. The young boy, being now in my possession, says to me:[Pg 197] ‘I hope Your Honour will not kill me.’ Upon which, being a little surprised at what he said, I asked him, ‘Have you not well merited it?’ ‘If I may be permitted to speak to Your Honour,’ replied he, ‘I own I am taken in an unhappy affair, which neither malice nor inclination drew me into. But the Head of the Country, notwithstanding I was the only child of my aged parents, insisted, under great penalties, on my coming in to join him; so that I beg you will pity me in my condition: but if it must be that I die this night, pray! tell me what death you think it will be?’ Upon which, not knowing what to think or what to say, I was somewhat at a loss: his telling me of his aged parents, and his simplicity touched me much: and how far I may be censured for my after-conduct, I know not; but those who think I did amiss, I hope, will pardon me, as being then but a young warrior. True, such a thing, I know, ought not to have been publicly done; yet, when an opportunity presented itself of doing an Act of Mercy without harm to the Cause, I am convinced that this my behaviour will, with all generous minds, escape reproof. The young boy continuing his lamentations, I told him to be of good courage, for death was not so imminent as he expected; at which he seemed to respire new vigor and life: And after some questions asked, and promises made of his ever being grateful and upon his telling me, that his home was not above fourteen miles from thence, I asked him, if he could privately slip away thither. He replied, such a favor would be too great for him to presume to request: So telling him to do it if he could, I discharged him, ordering him to be a support to his poor aged parents.

And now by this time we had almost conducted our prisoners to Falkirk; and, after delivering them, we went thoroughly wet and cold, to repose ourselves a little while on straw, and some in the open fields or air, all places being by this time entirely filled, so that it was then impossible to find any resource or ease for our excessive hunger, wet and cold. So resting a few hours in that condition, they soon after appeared; and when[Pg 198] light, we went to see the field of the slain; and number being made of them, we found near seven hundred of the enemy slain, and about fifty of ours, which were immediately interred. But this cheap-bought victory, you will say, merited a better exit! The most distinguished among the slain were Colonel Whitney and Sir Robert Monro, who was heard much to blaspheme during the engagement, and as a punishment for which, his tongue was miraculously cut asunder by a sword, that struck him directly across the mouth. His brother, a physician, was likewise killed at his side.[423] There were likewise found slain, some Presbyterian Parsons,[424] who, fired with holy zeal, had quitted their Bibles and took their swords. It was said, that one of these Parsons, seeing the danger he was in of losing his life as a Soldier, had recourse to his dignity, supposing that would be a cloak to save him. ‘Spare my life,’ said he to a Highlander, who was on the point of taking it, ‘for I am a Minister of My Master Jesus Christ!’ To which the other ingeniously replied: ‘If you are a good one, your Master has need of you; if[Pg 199] not, it’s fitting that you go and take your punishment elsewhere!’—which dilemma was immediately solved by the Highlander’s sword. Another Minister, seeing the case his Brother was in, and being in a fair way to share the same fate, begged his life of another Highlander for Prince Charles’s sake, by which means he preserved what he would otherwise inevitably have lost.

We now took possession of the enemy’s baggage, camp, and eight pieces of cannon; which they had not time to carry off—besides a few prisoners, the chief of whom was Major Lockhart, who, after having his life given him, and his liberty upon his parole of honour, afterwards spurned against gratitude itself, by not only being heinously perjured, but more than ordinarily thirsty of those prisoners’ blood who just before had spared his life.[425]

We had now about one-hundred prisoners, one of whom seeing his situation and ours, said with a grave countenance to his companion: ‘By my soul, Dick, if Prince Charles goes on in this way, Prince Frederick will never be King George!’ But of the five or six thousand men that went with the Prince to the field of battle, scarce three thousand returned back with him, for many of them, having loaded themselves with booty, returned up to the hills. It was now a great loss to us, that we had neither fort or other secure place to keep our prisoners in, so that, if it were not merely out of mercy, it was to no purpose to take prisoners, being without the means of keeping them.

And now being come again to Stirling, the enemy being fled to Edinburgh, and finding the siege of the Castle went on but slowly the spirit of the army began much to change. Factions, grudges, and private interest were now judged proper to be exercised, so that the Prince was in a mortifying situation, seeing himself deserted by half his army, and the others mightily turned. But as it is not for me to say more than what relates to myself, I shall only[Pg 200] mention the grudge I have often dearly paid for—that exercised against my Colonel, who, on the death of his brother had lately succeeded to the title of Lord Balmerino. And here it may be proper to give some account of the character of this brave man, which though sufficiently known, his praises cannot enough be sung. He was a man of a noble personage, of approved loyalty, and had the courage of a lion. He possessed a mind and genius well ornamented with both natural and acquired parts, being versed in most languages. He could recite whole pages of Horace, Ovid, and Virgil at his age of fifty-eight, as perfectly as a school-boy of sixteen, so that his memory for his years was wonderful, the more so for its not being in the least impaired by his hard drinking—his sole and predominant passion, which if he had a little more restrained, he would have shone with the same lustre in the army as he afterwards did on the scaffold. However, whilst with the Prince, he was never failing with his duty; and proud he was of having something, wherein he could shew his loyalty and obedience to his Master.

But what was the cause of the quarrel betwixt him and Lord George Murray, I know not; as Lord Balmerino did not ever directly inform us why he was treated after that manner: only I remember, His Lordship, when he saw himself so apparently ill-used, frequently addressed his corps as follows. ‘Come let us do as we are ordered! It is in vain to dispute; a time will come when I shall see all these things righted, and that too at Lord George’s cost or mine. But at present he is my superior, and we must obey as we tender the good of the Prince.’ With such soothing expressions has he often accosted us, when some were mutinying. And certainly he suffered a great deal from Lord George, for, to my knowledge, we have been ordered twenty or thirty miles, harassed and fatigued, and a courier sent after us, ordering us immediately to return without halting—saying it was my Lord George Murray’s orders.[426] And now a harder time than ever[Pg 201] came upon us, for I can safely say and prove, that from the time of Falkirk Affair to the Battle of Culloden, notwithstanding the fatigue of the day, I scarce slept three nights out of seven in bed.

And now having been some time before Stirling Castle, news arrived from Edinburgh, that Cumberland was come thither with an intention to rally General Hawley’s army and attack us again. As our number had been so much diminished by the desertion of those who after the battle of Falkirk had gone home loaded with plunder; it was judged expedient for us to retire higher into the country, where we were sure of being joined by some more forces. Accordingly we had orders to proceed on our march; and on the morning on which we began it, the Prince to St. Ringin,[427] distant about half a mile from Stirling, to give the necessary directions for quitting the town and raising the siege; which being done, we retired again, and when at a short distance, we were surprized with a hideous noise just behind us; and upon the Prince’s sending back to inquire what it was, it was found to be a church blown up, just upon the place where a few minutes before we had been standing. This church had been converted into a magazine for our gun-powder, which by some accident had been set on fire, and several of the town’s-people and of our soldiers were killed by the explosion. However, continuing our march, we arrived that night at Crieff a little town in the Highlands; and the Prince lodged at Drummond Castle, the residence of the illustrious Duke of Perth, which was only a short distance from the said town. And now it was judged proper for the army to separate; accordingly the Prince went the Highland way with the Highlanders and prisoners for Inverness; and the Horse and Lowland Regiments the Low-Country Road by the Sea-Coast,[Pg 202] which was much longer, so that it was three or four weeks before we again formed a junction.

And now we marched from Crieff to Perth, a large fine town; from Perth to Cowpar-in-Angus; from Cowpar to Glams; from Glams to Forfar; and so on to Montrose. The reason why I am so short in mentioning these places, is, I have little to say; we passing them quickly, and nothing extraordinary happening. But at Montrose we halted a few days. It is a fine loyal seaport town and looked upon as I was told there, to produce men of the greatest wisdom in Scotland. Having staid three days there, we were a little surprised at the sight of ships of war, that appeared a little distance off the Coast: and the rumor being that Cumberland was pretty nigh us, we began to apprehend lest they should land and intercept our passage; to prevent which, we marched with all haste out of the town, the foot going out the third day at night, and the rest following early the next morning except the Hussars who remained some days longer to watch the enemy’s motions.

Some of my readers may be curious to know what sort of men these Hussars were. A set of braver fellows it would be very hard to find; many of them having mounted themselves on horses which they had taken from the enemy. Their Commander[428] also was a wise, courageous virtuous man, and behaved himself in his station to the admiration of all, regulating his corps with such order as to make our enemies and the country, even fifty miles distant from us, have more fear of them than almost the whole army. In fine, he was of infinite service to the Prince, as also were his horse; for their conduct was daring, and their courage was steeled, and few of them there were, who would have scrupled to go, if possible to hell’s gates to fetch away the keys.

Soon after our departure from Montrose, we arrived at Aberdeen, where we staid two or three days; and notwithstanding our being in the town the Presbyterian Ministers ceased not to preach and pray publicly against[Pg 203] us. And here it was that I happened to be bedfellow to my Colonel, Lord Balmerino in the same bed where Cumberland afterwards lay, it being in one of the Chief Provosts’ houses.

When we marched out of Aberdeen, it blew, snowed, hailed, and froze to such a degree, that few Pictures ever represented Winter, with all its icicles about it, better than many of us did that day; for here men were covered with icicles hanging at their eyebrows and beards; and an entire coldness seizing all their limbs, it may be wondered at how so many could bear up against the storm, a severe contrary wind driving snow and little cutting hail bitterly down upon our faces, in such a manner that it was impossible to see ten yards before us. And very easy it now was to lose our companions; the road being bad and leading over large commons, and the paths being immediately filled up with drifted snow. However, we continued marching on till about three in the afternoon, when my horse overcome by the inclemency of the weather, fairly gave it up and would carry me no farther: and now by a little halt I quickly lost my Company, and was obliged to alight and lead my horse leg-deep in snow; being upon a wide common, as it appeared to me, not having seen all that day’s march scarce a house, tree or barn. I now expected every moment to perish, as I was quite benumbed and all covered over with snow, and my horse refused to follow me. At last, unable to proceed any farther, I sunk down, quite exhausted, upon the snow. In this dreadful situation, I luckily recollected a little bottle of spirits, which had been given me by the Provost’s Lady; and accordingly tried to put my frozen hand into my riding-coat pocket to take it out. On taking a draught of the liquor, I soon found that never repose to the wearied traveller, never meat to a most ravenous hunger, never drink to a most burning thirst, could be more refreshing or agreeable than this was to me; and I should have finished my bottle, if a reflection had not come into my head about my poor horse, which seemed to be in as bad a situation as myself, being one of a delicate and tender[Pg 204] breed. Knowing that he could drink beer, I resolved to make an experiment whether he would partake of the contents of my bottle. So pouring the remainder of the liquor into the crown of my hat, which I had pressed low down for the purpose, and dissolving some snow in it, in order to mitigate the spirits, I gave it my poor horse to drink: which to my great surprise and pleasure, he did, his mouth, I believe, being so cold that he did not know what he drank. However, now finding ourselves to respire as it were new life and vigor, we endeavoured to proceed, and after three quarters of an hour, being almost upon the relapse again, we stumbled upon a house, and following the walls of it came to the door, where entering together with my horse, I surprized the poor people who were sitting at the fire. But they, seeing the condition I was in, received me with a great deal of good-nature, and permitted my horse to stand in the house till he was well rubbed, and then led him to a little place for him to lie in, giving him hay and corn as he wanted. After I had taken off my riding-coat and boots and well warmed and refreshed myself, I heard of two more (who had been in almost as bad a situation as myself except that their horses continued to carry them), who were come to the next house adjacent. So going out to see them, I found them to be two old acquaintances, vizt., one Mr. Maxwell, and Mr. Ball, an English Gentleman, who, after some chat, concluded, that two more harassing marches, than that over the Esk and the present, could scarcely be imagined. Accommodating ourselves as well as we could for that night, being obliged to lie with our horses, we departed early next morning for Old Meldrum, which place most of the army had reached before us.

From Old Meldrum we marched the next day for Banff, a little pretty agreeable town. About this time we heard, that the Highlanders, who were with the Prince, had broke down the barracks of Riven of Badenoch (which were a great eye-sore to them, having been built to keep them in order), and having taken the Sergeant and eleven[Pg 205] more prisoners, were in full march for Inverness, distant thence only twenty-four miles. And now, after a short stay at Banff, we marched for Cullen; and by this time we heard that the Prince had made himself master of the Lord President’s House, and after some little resistance forced the soldiers in the town of Inverness to retire into the Castle, which, after a regular siege, likewise soon surrendered at discretion. About 200 men were taken prisoners here, and several officers, the principal of whom were the Governor and the Master of Ross. This rapid success of the Prince gave us great courage. So, marching from Cullen, through Fochabers, over the River Spey, Elgin, Forres and Nairn, towns only ten miles distant from each other, we came to be greedy spectators of our dear Prince again, and what he with his brave Highlanders had effected. And now, to second our victorious arms, we were joined by several more of the Clans and Chiefs, and the brave Amazon Lady McIntosh,[429] Seaforth and others coming in, or causing their Clans to come in, and many who had left us at Falkirk rejoining their colours, greatly reinforced the army. When in this flourishing condition, it pleased the Prince to make a visit to the Duke of Gordon’s, whither all the Guards were ordered to attend him; and in going a curious fine standard with this motto ‘Britons, strike home!’ that was taken at Falkirk from Gardiner’s Dragoons, was honourably conferred upon me by the Prince at the head of the whole Troop; and I had the honor of carrying it ever after. Having passed Nairn, Forres, Elgin, and the river Spey, just at the other side under Fochabers, we came to the Duke’s seat.[430] What reception the Prince had, or what passed there I know not: but after a short stay we attended our Royal Master back again to Inverness. But as soon as we arrived there, we had orders to conduct some of the chief officers, who had lately been taken prisoners to Forres, and after leaving them there (they being upon their parole of honor) to go to Cullen[Pg 206] to inspect all affairs there on that side of the country, and to observe the motions of the enemy who lay at Aberdeen. While at Cullen, where we were continually upon the watch by our patrolling parties, we heard that Colonel Grant, a good French Officer, had with his Artillery taken Fort Augustus, and made the garrison prisoners; that a part of Fitz-James’ Horse had landed and joined the Prince;[431] and that Lord George Murray had blocked up seven hundred men in the Castle of Blair, when he behaved with a great deal of conduct and policy, for, he appeared before the Castle with only a few men, having hid most of the Highlanders with him in an adjacent wood. The garrison being thus deceived made a sally upon him with about three hundred men; but he immediately drew his party out of the wood and surrounded them, upon seeing which, they immediately surrendered.[432] So, sending them prisoners to Inverness he persevered in the siege of the Castle: but the approach of the Hessians soon obliged him to raise it and leave four hundred men remaining in the Castle.

At this time President Forbes together with Lord Loudon, were endeavouring to confederate and knit together what forces they could: but to prevent their doing much mischief, a party of the brave McDonalds, with some few others, were detached under the Command of the Duke of Perth, who soon dispersed this rising power, and obliged its heads, viz., Lord Loudon and the President to save themselves in boats.

Some of my readers may be curious to know who this President was, and what interest he had. He may truly be styled the Oracle of his Country, for many resorted[Pg 207] to him for advice; and had he been as great a friend as he was an implacable enemy, James would in all probability have swayed the English sceptre; for by his interest, cunning and persuasion he brought over his own party, together with Sir Alexander McDonald and several others, who before were just sworn in to the Prince’s interest.[433] So, I say, had he been as firm a friend as he was an implacable enemy, we should have seen, instead of the four thousand men who marched into England, an army of Eighteen or twenty thousand men.

About this time we heard, that the officers who were prisoners upon their parole of honour had broken it, and escaped to the enemy’s army, all of them except the Master of Ross and one or two more.[434] But what will the world say, to see these officers, whom no tie of religion, gratitude or honour could bind, protected and cherished by their own party—nay sent against us, to endeavour to destroy those who before had saved them!

And now we heard, that the Advanced Guard of the enemy was approaching us, and were got up to Strathbogie. We who were also of the advanced Guard, upon receiving this intelligence, quitted Cullen, and retreated to Fochabers, where a considerable body of our men were endeavouring to make a resistance at the River Spey, and had for that purpose built barracks, and made all necessary preparations, in case the passage of the river had been attempted. But finding their army lay quiet at Aberdeen, and that their advanced party in Strathbogie only made now and then some little excursions towards us as far as Keith, we, though at first we were very diligent and alert, we relaxed in our vigilance, nay fell asleep and at last into a lethargy, in which we unhappily continued till awakened by the foul affair of Culloden, which merits an epithet bitterer than I can give.

About this time an advanced party under the command of Major Glascow went out at night, and hearing that some[Pg 208] of the enemy were at Keith,[435] surrounded that place, and having taken most of them prisoners, with their arms and equipage, returned the next day with great honour to Spey-side, where Lord John Drummond and Lord Ogilvy commanded.

As we lay hereabouts a considerable time, assessments were made upon the country for our support, and among others upon the Earl of Findlater’s Estate, who on our arrival had taken wing and joined Cumberland Will. The Earl’s Steward, being threatened with military executions, if he refused to comply with our demands (which were always seconded by such threats, though seldom put in practice) begged leave to write to his Master for instructions how to act. Upon this the Earl, having consulted with Cumberland, sent a Letter addressed To the Man they call Lord John Drummond, telling his Lordship, that if he or any other person should pretend to exercise any military authority over any thing belonging to him, there were Rebels’ houses enough, on which his Master Cumberland promised him he should have his revenge. This Letter excited a great deal of indignation among us; and was the cause of what afterwards happened to his house;—for several of our party, without any order being given, and indeed without the Prince’s being in the then situation of his affairs, able to restrain their fury, ransacked it, and carried away several articles of value, but without setting fire to it, or wantonly destroying anything merely for destroying’s sake.[436]

At last news arrived that the enemy had left Aberdeen, and were marching against us.[437] This intelligence gave great satisfaction to many of us, who were in a manner tired out of our lives. Yet notwithstanding the approach of the enemy, all the Prince’s endeavours to collect his whole army, were ineffectual; for many under pretence of cultivating their lands, or promising to come up soon enough, went, staid, and came as they thought proper.

[Pg 209]

And now finding the enemy advanced pretty fast both by water and land, the fleet bringing up their provisions and wearied soldiers; frequent patrols were sent out by us in order to observe their motions. Here I had the honour of commanding the last patrolling party that ever crossed the Spey for the Prince’s cause. Lord John Drummond (Commander at the Spey) having ordered me with ten others to patrol all night towards the enemy, we began our work about seven o’Clock and continued it till about five the next morning, being then eight miles from Fochabers and two from the enemy; when we took a man with a Letter from one of Cumberland’s Secretaries to the Duchess of Gordon,[438] desiring her to employ all her interest among her vassals in getting down provisions and getting together what forces she could, as the Duke of Cumberland intended to pass the river that day. Having secured the Messenger and Letter, we continued our route, till we came up in a manner to where they were encamped; for as they lay upon the declivity of a hill, and had no guards on the top, we were able to approach very near to them unperceived. But finding them drawn out in order of battle, after seeing all we could see, and some bravadoes and huzzas, we retired with all speed, leaving them to wonder what we meant. We soon reached Fochabers (on the Spey) where I found Lord John Drummond. Having given him the Letter taken from the Duke of Cumberland’s Messenger and informed him of the situation I had found the enemy in, I retired to repose myself a little while. When fast asleep, a servant came in to tell me that the enemy was in the town, and that it was too late to think of escaping, almost all of our party having already passed the river. However, starting up in great confusion, I resolved to risk all rather than fall into their hands, and mounting my horse escaped by a back road. I had no sooner crossed the river than I was ordered to join a party of about eighty horse who were to remain behind on the banks of the Spey to observe[Pg 210] the motions of the enemy; whilst the foot, amounting to about two thousand men, marched for Inverness, where the Prince then lay with the greatest part of his army. Finding that the enemy after a short halt at the Spey side, began to cross the river, we likewise retired and followed our foot, to inform them of the enemy’s being in full pursuit of us. This intelligence made our men pass through Elgin, without halting, and straight on that night to Forres, which was ten miles farther; and, after some stay there, to Nairn, out of which we were next morning driven; the whole English Army entering the town at one end, whilst we marched out at the other, and continuing to pursue us sharply for three or four hours. And here it was His Grace the Duke of Perth and Colonel O’Sullivan[439] gained immortal honour by their bravery and conduct in bringing us off in good order from under the very nose of the enemy; for notwithstanding all their firing upon our rear, and though we were much inferior in numbers, we lost not one man.

Soon after their desisting from pursuing us, we received orders to halt, and encamp upon that very place, where the fatal battle of Culloden was afterwards fought. Having accordingly encamped as well as we could on the heath that grew upon the common, which served us both for bedding and fuel, the cold being very severe, we were soon after joined by the Prince and several of his Clans. Finding that the enemy did not pursue us we rested ourselves all that night upon the Common, and early next morning drew out in battle-array. But that day being Cumberland’s birthday,[440] and the enemy shewing no intention to attack us on it, we reposed ourselves again, though still keeping ourselves in readiness, upon the place where we had rested the preceding night; a biscuit being given to us for our refreshment. In that situation we remained, till the brave Prince came amongst us in the dusk of the evening, with the full resolution of going to attack them that night in their camp, distant only seven miles. Orders were accordingly given to that[Pg 211] effect, which were obeyed with the greatest pleasure and alacrity by the whole army. We began our March about seven o’Clock leaving great fires burning in our camp: but by some strange infatuation or misfortune the road was not rightly taken, either through the ignorance or treachery of Lord George Murray’s guide. This still remains doubtful, but this I can say, that with the little knowledge I had of the country I could have conducted them much better and sooner. After we had marched till about three o’Clock in the morning, over double the ground that was necessary, we at last came pretty nigh the enemy’s camp: and when we were supposing to surround them, and for that purpose in some measure drawing out; my Lord George Murray began to be missing; notwithstanding the Prince’s Aides-de-Camp in riding from rank to rank, and asking, for God’s sake! what has become of His Lordship, and telling that the Prince was in the utmost perplexity for want of him. In that situation did we remain a considerable time, till, day breaking fast in upon us, we heard that Lord George Murray was gone off with most of the Clans. Where he had been all that considerable time, or what was his intention in it, I leave Time to prove. Now, after we had stood some time on the brink of entering their camp, the Prince, on receiving the unwelcome news of Lord George Murray’s going off with the greatest part of the army, was under the necessity of ordering us likewise, much to our dissatisfaction, to march back again to our Camp. In this manner did that noble and well-concerted scheme fall to ruin—and not only to ruin, but in such a manner as to ruin us, who before had hopes of ruining the enemy. But O! for Madness! what can one think, or what can one say here![441]

[Pg 212]

The enemy at our departure, being fully awakened and seeing the jeopardy they had been in, judged rightly, it was their time now to pursue us in the unhappy situation we were then in, being harassed, hungry and starved and fatigued, almost to the greatest extremity. We had no sooner reached our camp again, than news came of the enemy’s being in full march towards us, and of their intention to attack us. This disagreeable intelligence vexed us much in our present situation, the more so, as of the twelve thousand men, who were actually in arms and in the pay of the Prince, not above Four thousand were now with him many going every moment, notwithstanding his orders to the contrary, to Inverness, and to woods and houses adjacent, in order to repose and rest themselves after their late excessive fatigue. Many of these were so far from rejoining us, that they were taken asleep by the enemy after the battle. Those, however, who staid, put the best face on the affair they could, and all of us presently appeared surprizingly courageous, who only seemed to survive and animated by the spirit of loyalty and love for our dear Prince. But now why we resolved to fight, or why we did not retire to Inverness, and keep that town till we were fully joined, which might have been easily done, or even at last, if judged proper, avoided fighting and make another expedition into England in spite of them,—I may say it was Fortune’s will;—for, contrary to the Prince’s inclination, Lord George Murray insisted on standing and fighting them that day: and as for what he said of our wanting provisions, it is most certain, though we did that day, we might have retired to Inverness and found there a sufficiency of meat for two or three days. However, the Prince, notwithstanding his great inclination to avoid fighting, was at last obliged to give way to the importunity of Lord George Murray, who even used terms very cutting in case of refusal; and was also for fighting His Grace the Duke of Perth—but this may be said for him, he doubted not but the same Hand that had supported and miraculously conducted the Prince hitherto would[Pg 213] infallibly continue to support him, and make him a glorious Conqueror.[442]

I shall now proceed to give account in what manner we were ranged in battle-array. The brave McDonalds, who till then had led the van, and behaved at all times with great courage and bravery, were now displaced, and made to give way, at the pleasure of Lord George Murray, to the Athol men, whom he commanded. The rest of the front line was composed of Highlanders: the second, of Lowlanders and French, with four pieces of cannon at each wing: and in the rear was the Prince attended by all the horse, and some foot. In this manner were we drawn up—four thousand men to fight eleven thousand. The enemy being by this time in full view, we began to huzza and bravado them in their march upon us, who were extended from right to left in battle-array, it being upon a common. But, notwithstanding all our repeated shouts, we could not induce them to return one: on the contrary, they continued proceeding, like a deep sullen river; while the Prince’s army might be compared to a[Pg 214] streamlet running among stones, whose noise sufficiently shewed its shallowness. The Prince, the Duke of Perth, the Earl of Kilmarnock, Lord Ogilvy, and several other Highland and Lowland Chiefs, rode from rank to rank, animating and encouraging the soldiers by well-adapted harangues.

The battle being now begun, the whole fury of the enemy’s Artillery seemed to be directed against us in the rear; as if they had noticed where the Prince was. By the first cannon shot, his servant, scarcely thirty yards behind him, was killed; which made some about the Prince desire, that he would be pleased to retire a little off: but this he refused to do, till seeing the imminent danger from the number of balls that fell about him, he was by the earnest entreaties of his friends forced to retire a little, attended only by Lord Balmerino’s corps. Frequent looks and turns the Prince made, to see how his men behaved: but alas! our hopes were very slender, from the continual fire of musketry that was kept up upon them from right to left. We had not proceeded far, when I was ordered back, lest the sight of my standard going off, might induce others to follow. In returning, various thoughts passed my soul, and filled by turns my breast with grief for quitting my dear Prince, now hopes of victory, then fear of losing—the miserable situation the poor loyalists would again be reduced to—and what we had to expect if we left the field alive: these thoughts, I say, strangely wrought upon me, till, coming to the place I was on before, and seeing it covered with the dead bodies of many of the Hussars who at the time of our leaving had occupied it, I pressed on, resolving to kill or be killed. Some few accompanied my standard, but soon left it. At this time, many of ours from right to left were giving way and soon the battle appeared to be irretrievably lost. The enemy, after we had almost passed the two ranks, flanking and galling us with their continual fire, forced us at last back, broke our first line, and attacked the second, where the French troops were stationed. I happened then to be there, and after receiving a slight[Pg 215] grazing ball on my left arm, met with Lord John Drummond, who, seeing me, desired I would come off with him, telling me all was over and shewing me his regiment, just by him, surrounded. Being quickly joined by about forty more horse, we left the field of battle in a body, though pursued and fired upon for some time. When we arrived at the foot of the hills, some of us took one way, and some another: I, however, with about six more, continued with Lord John Drummond; and it was with some difficulty we passed the rapid torrents and frozen roads, till one o’Clock that night, when we came to a little village at the foot of a great mountain, which we had just crossed. Here we alighted, and some went to one house and some to another. None of these cottages having the conveniences to take in our horses, who wanted refreshment as well as we, many of them perished at the doors. I happened to be in one of the most miserable huts I had ever met with during my whole life; the people were starving to death with hunger. However, having laid myself down on the floor to rest myself after having been almost thirty hours on horse-back; the people came crying about me and speaking a language I did not understand, which made my case still more unpleasant. But by good luck, a soldier soon after came in, who could speak both to them and me, and brought with him some meal, which was very acceptable, as I was almost starving with hunger. Of this meal we made at that time a very agreeable dish, by mixing it very thick with cold water, for we could get no warm: and so betwixt eating and drinking we refreshed ourselves, till four o’Clock in the morning; when Lord John Drummond and the rest of us began our march, we knew not whither, through places it would be in vain to describe; for we saw neither house, barn, tree, or beast nor any beaten road, being commonly mid-leg deep in snow, till five o’Clock that afternoon; when we found ourselves near a village called Privana a Badanich,[443] the barracks of which, as I mentioned[Pg 216] before, the Prince had destroyed. Being now, to our surprize, almost upon it, we consulted amongst ourselves how we might best get intelligence from it; for, as it lay on the road from Inverness twenty-four miles we apprehended the enemy might be there. But fortunately a soldier coming out told us, that the village was occupied by the Prince’s men. This intelligence gave us great pleasure; and having accordingly entered the place, we found a great many of the Prince’s adherents, the chief of whom was Lord George Murray and the Duke of Perth; but we heard no news where the poor Prince was. At first we had great hopes of rallying again: but they soon vanished, orders coming for every one to make the best of his way he could. So some went one way, some another: those who had French Commissions surrendered; and their example was followed by my Colonel, Lord Balmerino, tho’ he had none. Many went for the mountains, all being uncertain what to do or whither to go.

In this perplexity I resolved to steer my course through the mountainous country, notwithstanding the advice of many to the contrary, who told me, it would be impossible for me to escape, and begged I would go and surrender, assuring me, that if I attempted the mountains, I should inevitably perish in them. But reflecting, how nigh suffering my Father had been in the year 1715, taking Courage and Patience for my guides, I resolved to enterprize a journey through a Country that few of my Nation had ever passed before. So, folding up my Standard, whose Motto was Britons! strike home! I put it in my Riding-coat pocket, in hopes it might be of use another day, and began my journey, in company with three others, for the Highlands. Having discharged our horses, after a long day’s journey, we came to a house situated on Garvie-more, twelve miles from any other, where we met with many of our party, who had arrived there before us. However, putting up in the best manner with what little we could obtain, we set forward for Fort Augustus: but on the road, a misfortune happened, that disconcerted[Pg 217] all our plans; for a man who carried our provisions of Oatmeal, fallen a little behind, by accident met with some of the Brigade Picquets, who robbed him of our meal and two riding-coats. This unexpected loss obliged us to separate soon afterwards, being too many to subsist in this wild tract of country, if we had kept together. However, having got betwixt Fort Augustus and Fort William, we struck up into the country to the right, and passed several large mountains in Lochiel’s Country, where we staid three days, because we heard, that the brave Prince was nigh us, and to take leave of one another, the necessaries of life being exceedingly scarce, from the great number of people wandering over the hills as well as we. I here went to wait upon the Duke of Perth, who was at the house of Doctor Cameron, Lochiel’s Brother: but being told by two sentinels at the door, that His Grace was indisposed, I returned without seeing him. It was now reported, that an English spy had been at Doctor Cameron’s house which obliged me in all haste to quit that place; for certain it is, had I staid there any longer, and the Highlanders supposed me to be the spy, they would have made away with me. I therefore left my companions and set forward to Lochaber, the wildest country I ever was in. And now it was that I began to be truly miserable, and to endure hardships which I had thought it impossible for human nature to support, for in that most hideous place I was deprived of every thing that could give me comfort: true it is, I found some few inhabitants; but in language food and customs quite different from what I had ever seen before. In this place I was forced to stay several days, on account of the prodigious quantity of snow that fell upon the mountains, and hindered me from discerning or making any road. During my stay, I by good fortune got a pound of black bread to live upon. The snow somewhat melting I set forward again from Lochaber towards the sea-shore. On the road I was overtaken by about forty women, half-starved to death who were wandering up and down for safety. Some of them, who spoke English, told me,[Pg 218] they had been driven out of their houses by the soldiers who were sent out from Fort William to ravage burn and plunder all before them and now it was that the most heart-rending scenes of misery began to present themselves; for many of these poor creatures with children in their arms, lay extended in the clefts of the rocks half covered with snow, dead, and a-dying in the most piteous manner. With these companions of misery, and daily meeting with more I passed some days. I now learned, that many of the unfortunate adherents of the Prince had been famished to death on the hills and I expected it would soon be my turn, for I began to be almost unable to proceed, my shoes being worn out, and the sharp rocks wounding my feet. However, I encouraged myself with the thought that my pursuers would have the same difficulty to climb the rocks as I had; and on the twentieth day[444] after our defeat at Culloden I came to the sea, in Clan-Ronald’s Country; the view of which was most agreeable to me, though even then I saw no prospect of escaping. Getting a little refreshment from the people who dwelt on the sea-shore, I began as it were to revive again, having been almost starved to death with hunger and cold; for I had been obliged to lie down for whole nights under the shelves of rocks, and was for two or three days together without eating at all, as nothing could be obtained either for love or money. Though I was fat and strong at the battle of Culloden, I was now quite emaciated and reduced to so miserable a state, that, if I had had another day to walk, I am sure I must have died; for I was not only starved with hunger and cold, but frightfully covered with vermin, which bit me all over my body so that there remained not one whole place in my skin. This, joined with the pain in my torn feet, made me often think that Job could not be in a more piteous condition. Yet as he had God for his comforter, so had I; for the justness[Pg 219] of the cause I was suffering for, gave me great courage, and supported me much: and though I saw daily enmities exercised against me, it was a great satisfaction to me, to think, that, during the time I had the honour of being a soldier under the banner of our dear Prince, I could not accuse myself of one act that a Christian might blush at.

Being somewhat recovered by the particular care of a worthy Gentleman (whose kindness I had the satisfaction in a little time to return by an agreeable meeting with him at Paris), I began to inquire, if it were possible from island to island to make my escape out of the country; for could I have sold myself at that time as a slave into Turkey, I would have done it. My host told me, that it was impossible, as all the boats had been destroyed by Cumberland’s order. However, one morning, being in that perplexity of thought how to get off, and fearing every moment the landing of soldiers to destroy the country—news was brought us that two French ships had come into the Lough just by—which mightily raised our hopes, that either a restoration of the Prince’s affairs were at hand, or that we should escape to France. So, running down to see and hear what we could we found them to be ships destined for the Prince’s service, having on board a great quantity of arms and ammunition, with five barrels of gold, pretty large and nearly one-yard long—which before our late fatal disasters might have been of great use.[445]

Notice being sent all about the Mountains, as far as time would permit; several, who lay despairing, came down to the sea-shore, and among the rest, my old patron the Duke of Perth, Lord John his brother; Sir Thomas Sheridan, Secretary Murray, Mr. John Hay, and Doctor Cameron. These being assembled together, judged it proper though no one knew where the Prince was (many thinking he was gone off for France) to have the money and arms brought on shore; which was done on the[Pg 220] evening after. Going securely to sleep that night expecting to sail for France the next day, we were surprised by the noise of cannon, which awakened us about three o’Clock in the morning; and getting up to see what the matter was, we had for our comfort the disagreeable news and sight of three English ships, that were come from Fort William to attack the French, whose appearance on the coast they had noticed, it seems. This sight displeased us very much: however, fighting was the resolution of us all. The two French Frigates (viz., the Mars and the Bellona), being pretty strong, and having a sufficient quantity of men, cannon, and ball, resolved to make head against the three English vessels, of which one was the Baltimore,[446] that name being written upon her rudder, which was carried off by a cannon-ball. The place they fought in, was a creek of rocks, which held the French (the English coming down upon them) as it were penn’d up, having the land on their back and both sides. However it was easy for them to hold communications with us on shore, who were four hundred armed men or more; so that had they been obliged to abandon their Ships, they might have saved themselves on shore. The Crews of the two ships amounting to nearly eleven hundred men, might, with the assistance of the Highlanders, have made an effectual resistance to the English, if they had attempted to invade us. The battle furiously beginning at three o’Clock in the morning, it remained doubtful till four in the afternoon, who would be victors. Nor was it a small pleasure to us to see those combatants engaged, and the skill of the French, whose fire seldom missed the English; for many of us being upon the rock as it were hung over these ships, in such a manner that they could not hurt us with either cannon or musketry; we could discern how matters went, and few balls were fired but we might see whether they hit or missed, which latter the English frequently did. During the engagement, the Highlanders were busied in carrying the arms, money,[Pg 221] and powder off from the sea-shore; which service they performed with amazing resolution, many a cannon ball being fired, in order to hinder them, by the largest of the English ships. Few Highlanders there were but what had a cask of brandy hid privately in the hills, with which some of them got merry before night. At last we had the satisfaction to see the English hoist their sails, leave the French, and sail to the main ocean. The French repaired their ships as fast as possible, and endeavoured to make what haste out they could, lest the English should return with a greater force.

All being over and hopes reviving again; one who had been in the Guards with me, came and told me, he had found a barrel of money, and that he would get me as much of it as I pleased. To this proposal I replied, That I had no manner of use for it, for, if I should be so fortunate as to escape into France, I had friends enough there, who would take care of me; and that if I died or were taken, it would be of no service to me. Moreover if the Prince should rally again, how shocking it would be to have to reproach ourselves with being a hindrance to our dear Prince’s designs. On hearing this reply, he, being of a temper exceedingly rude, began to repent of informing me of it; and seemed resolved to take some, and let the rest be embezzled away; for as far as I could learn he had hidden it in a place unknown to any one but whether in the confusion when everything was carried off, he had stopped it, or carried it away, elsewhere, I know not, for he would not tell me. But strange, you will say, must have been the confusion when a barrel of gold fell into his hands, and no one the wiser. However, I determined to quitt my hands and conscience of it; and much search being made for it at this time, I went and told one Mr. Harrison, a Priest,[447] about it, and what such a man[Pg 222] intended to do, and beg that he would keep an eye on him: but he, being a little before me, overheard me, and turning back knocked me down with a stick, and swore, that he would kill me the first opportunity. But the Priest, taking my part endeavoured to pacify him, desiring him to desist from thoughts of the money, and shew him where it was. The man, however, remained obstinate, and said he was resolved to have some of it, since the Prince’s affairs seemed now desperate; alleging that his Father and himself had been ruined for loyalty. They then both agreed to go together; but what afterward passed, I know not.

Recovering myself from the fall he gave, I went towards the ships, in order to get on board that night, and in going I was so happy as to meet with the Duke of Perth, who, seeing me in a most piteous condition, called me to him, and, after embracing me, and giving me most agreeable consolations, said: ‘Dear Mr. Daniel, I am truly sorry for you; but I assure you that you shall go along with me, and if we are so fortunate as to get to France, depend upon it, that I shall always be your friend.’ In reply I begged His Grace not to be in pain about me; for the loss of me was only the loss of my life, not having one dependant upon me; and assured him that I was truly resigned to God’s holy will; and thanking His Grace for his kindness and concern for me, wished we might be so happy as to reach France. And now, after we had staid some time upon the sea-shore, waiting for the boats, three were sent to fetch us; but we were obliged to wade breast-deep into the sea, before we could get on board of them. While we were lying on the shore—the Duke, poor man! wrapped up in a blanket!—a Highlander by accident let the snuff of his tobacco-pipe fall into a barrel of gun powder; which blowing up, with a great number of stones about it, one of them flew so near my ear, that[Pg 223] I could not hear at all for three hours after. This explosion alarmed us at first, as we supposed the English had returned to attack the French ships again: but happily no other mischief was done, except that the Highlander lost his life.

The boat the Duke was in, put off immediately; and another coming took me in, with many more, and carried us to the Bellona, where we remained at anchor till two o’Clock the next morning, when we sailed for France.[448] The chief of those in our ship were Sir Thomas Sheridan;[449] Mr. Sheridan, his nephew;[450] and Mr. Hay.[451] We were twenty-five days in sailing to France, and met with no opposition during our voyage. I was exceedingly seasick, and having no pockets, and every one thinking I should die, I gave a purse of money to Mr. John Hay’s[Pg 224] servant, telling him, if I died, to keep it; and if I survived to carry it for me to France; which he carefully did for me. In the ship I was in, there raged a contagious distemper, which carried off sixty-seven in twenty-five days: and about the tenth day of our voyage, I saw the body of my friend and patron the Duke of Perth, thrown over-board; which afflicting sight, joined with my violent sickness, I expected would have put an end to my life. But what I thought would have killed me, perhaps contributed to save my life in that pestiferous ship; as my continual vomiting may have hindered any thing noxious from taking any effect upon me. But what is very surprising, for twenty-two days I had not one call of nature, which I affirm upon honour. And now after all my adventures dangers and fatigues, I at the end of twenty-five landed in France, where, to my satisfaction, I have lived since, in the expectation daily of seeing what I have ever wished to see.

Postscript

Having now finished my Narrative, I hope the truth of what I have written will make up for the faults that may be found in it, and that the candid Reader will find matter of admiration and esteem in the behaviour and actions of one so dear, whom I had once the honour to serve. I shall conclude with

Fuimus Troies, et erimus iterum.

Trojans we have been, and will again

to the satisfaction of all good men!

[Pg 225]


[Pg 227]

NEIL MACEACHAIN’S NARRATIVE OF THE WANDERINGS OF PRINCE CHARLES IN THE HEBRIDES

The misfortunate battle of Colloden being fought upon the 16th of April, 1746, his royal highness seeing that the day was irrecoverably lost, concluded that his only business was to endeavour the saving of himself out of the hands of his enemies: whereupon, having retired to a neighbouring eminence, hard by the place of action, accompanied by a few of Fitz-James’s horse, there, having made a little stop, not knowing whither to direct his course when luckily one Edmond Burk, the servant of one Alexander MacLeod,[452] son of Mr. John MacLeod, of Muiravine Side, rod accidentally by them, thinking to find his master among them, whom he had not seen since the beginning of the battles. His master (who happened to be there present with the prince), knowing him to be very well acquaint with all the different rods of the highlands, ordered him to lead them the safest and surest road to Glengarry. Whereupon the prince,[Pg 228] accompanied by Master O’Sulivan,[453] Mr. Allan MacDowell,[454] priest, and the said Alexander MacLeod, marched westward, and arrived that night about eight o’clock to Thomas Gortlickshorge,[455] a gentleman of the name of Fraser, in Stratharagaig,[456] where he met, as it was said, with my Lord Lovat, and supt with him there that night.

After supper the prince reckoning it dangerous to stay so very near the enemy, the first night, we resolved to continue his journey towards Glengarry; about break of day, finding himself quite fatigued and worn out for want of rest, he consulted with his fellow-travellers, whither he might repair with most safety to take some hours repose. They all concluded that the Castel of Invergary was the surest and safest place for that purpose, and a great conveniency of concealment, and (that he) might repose himself without any fear (there) till such time as he and his party should take further resolutions. Being[Pg 229] then prevailed upon by these reasons, he immediately repaired thither, where he was received by Glengarry with the greatest pleasure.[457] When he sufficiently refreshed himself he took a resolution to proceed still further, fearing to stay long in one place. He departed that same day from Glengarry, being the 17th in the evening, and continued his route towards Lochaber, and came that night to Donald Cameron, of Glenpean’s house, where he passed the remaining part of the night.

Next day being the 18th, he set out for the Braes of Moror, and arrived in the evening at Angus Mack Eachan’s[458] house, son to Alexander McEachan, of Domondrack. He was so much fatigued that night, that he could neither eat nor drink, and required the help of a man to support him to his bed. The next day, being the 19th, he ventured to pass the whole day in a wood near the house, in order to recruit more strength for a night walk; and accordingly when it was late, he set out for Arasack, where he arrived about six in the morning, and went straight to Angus MacDonald’s house in Borrodale, where he quartered, after his landing, till he marched out of the country.[459] At his arrival here, he found a great many Mack Donalds assembled together, who had lately escaped out of the[Pg 230] battle of Colloden—gentlemen of both Glengarry’s and Clanranald’s families. During the eight days he stayed in that country, he had daily conferences with young Clanranald, Colonel MacDonald of Barisdale, and several others of both families, treating which was the safest place, and surest method for his concealment. After they had satisfied him as to that, they protested, and assured him he should have nothing to fear, that they would stand by him if he only would stay among them to the last man. With this he seemed to be very much satisfied, till Mr. O’Neil[460] and O’Sulivan,[461] by the advice of Mr. Allan MacDonald, and one Donald MacLeod, of Galtrigil,[462] perswaded him in a private council, to quite that country for good, and all; and as there was no appearance of succeeding further, and that they lost all hopes of gaining the point they once undertook, it was better to run for the Lewis, where Donald promised to procure a ship for them as far as the Orkneys, and there, he assured them to find a ship to transport them to France.[Pg 231] The prince being prevailed upon by these convincing reasons, ordered a ten-oar boat belonging to Angus MacDonald of Borodale, to be seized upon, and without any further consultation, he put to sea about six o’clock at night, accompanied only by these persons who were the authors of the new scheme, without acquainting any body of any such design,[463] till they were seen fairly under sail of the coast.

This night’s voyage was like to cost them dire; for they were not long at sea when there came on such a terrible roaring of thunder, preceed’d by such dreadfull flashes of lightning, accompanied with a prodigious poure of rain, so that the whole elements seemed to rebel against them, and threatened to send them every moment to eternity; the wind, which continued to blow fair the whole night, coming about to the north, quite contrary to their course, about twelve o’clock at night, made them despair of continuing their intended voyage any further, and so [they] prepared for death, as being sure to be shattered upon the rocks of the nearest shore. Amidst all these dangers he appeared intrepide, and offered his service to Donald MacDonald and Donald MacLeod, seeing they were the only two that was of any service in the boat, whilst all the rest was oblidged to give it up, stiffened and benumbed with cold. They continued in that agony the whole night, ’till about break of day, when Rory MacDonald, who stood at the helm all the time, discerning Benbicula in south-west, where he knew to be one of the best harbours on that coast, and the wind blowing astern of them, he piloted them into the harbour of Roshiness, within five long miles of Clanranald’s house, which being Sunday, and the 29th of Aprile.[464]

They were no sooner landed but they were seen by a[Pg 232] herd of Clanranald’s who stayed in the place always to take care of his master’s cattle, and seeing a number of men finely clad, and fully armed, supposing them to be an enemy, he immediately made off, with a nimble pair of heels, and carried the news of what he had seen to his master, as he was at dinner with Mr. John MacAuley,[465] Neil MacDonald,[466] and several other gentlemen. Clanranald, moved by this unexpected surprise, before he resolved upon any thing, sent Donald MacDonald to know the certainty of what the herd had told him. Master MacAulay, who was parish minister in the country, to satisfie his own curiosity sent one of his auditors to learn what they were, from whence they came, and where they were bound for. This fellow, pretending to have been sent thither by Clanranald, upon a report of a boat’s being land’d there, and to examine what they were, learned it was the prince who designed to make for the Lewis in order to make his escape, who came back and told the minister the same. The minister judging that he could not meet with a better opportunity to show his zeal and affection for the government, despatched a courier that same day away to the Herris, with a letter to his father, who was minister there,[467] charging him to write immediately upon receipt of his letter, to Mr. Colin MacKenzie, established minister at Stornoway,[468] informing him of the same, and ordering him to settle all measures with Seaforth’s factor there to apprehend the prince at his first landing.

Donald MacDonald, who was sent by Clanranald to[Pg 233] learn the strength of the enemy, as it was believed, having returned, acquainted him of the matter of fact, assuring, he spoke to Mr. Allen MacDonald, who ordered him to tell Clanranald to come and see him, as he designed to go off that night. Whereupon Clan and Neil MacDonald went privately out of the town, and took their way straight to Roshiness, where they found the prince, in the house with Mr. O’Sulvan, O’Neil, Mr. Allen MacDonald, and Donald MacLeod. The prince received him very kindly, after having communicated to him his design he took leave of him, and put to sea again that night, with the same persons that accompanied him thither. The heavens proved more favourable to them that night than the former, having met with no danger or opposition, and at daybreak they came in to Loch Maddy, in north-west, where they skulk’d the whole day, being the 30th, seeing they durst not venter to sea in the daytime, for fear to be discovered by the several men of war that guarded the coast at that time. They set out from Loch Maddy about six o’clock, which was the ordinary hour they always departed, and landed in Scalpa, in the Herris, early next morning, being the 1st of May.[469]

Before they came near a house they took borrow’d names and employments. Master O’Sulvan took that of Captain Sinclair, the prince called himself William Sinclair, the captain’s son, O’Neill changed his name into Neilson, and mate Master Allen named himself Dalrumple, and Rosman, and Donald MacLeod, master of the boat yt brought them thither, and swore the crew to attest the same.

After this ceremony was over, they came to Donald Campbell’s house, who was the most sponsable gentleman in that part of the country, but an enemy by his name, and a downright hypocrite in his heart;[470] and being asked[Pg 234] by their landlord what they were, they told him they were sea-fareing men from the Orkneys, who being homeward bound from Irland, lost their ship near the Mull of Kintyre, and most of their crew, and were thereupon forced to freight their present boat and crew from Mull, as fare as the Lewis, where they hop’t to find a vessel to transport them safe home to their own country. The next day, being the 2nd of May, they sent Donald MacLeod away to Stornaway before them to have a ship ready freighted, and to get intelligence how the people stood affected, and to send them word accordingly; which project would have had the intended success, were it not for the imprudence of Donald, and MacAulay’s malicious letter.

As soon as he was arrived at Stornaway he set about putting his commission in execution, and discharged himself so well of that duty, that he got a ship freighted that same evening, and wrote back to the prince, who remained still at Scalpa, to repair thither as soon as possible, but unwarily having gone to drink a bottle with the captain of the ship, reposing too much trust in him, he disclosed to him all the secret, whereupon the captain told him, if he should load the ship with gold he would not employ her for that purpose: Having said this, he went and published in all the streets of the town that the pretender (as he called him) was to come to town privately next night, and if Mr. MacLeod had not escaped out of the town he had certainly been apprehend’d that night. The prince, who knew nothing of what was passing before him, he set out upon the 3 of May for Stornaway afoot, leaving orders with his crew to return home to the mainland and restore the boat to the owner. That day he suffered a vast deal of cold and fatigue, the day being so extreme bad; Donald MacLeod mett him about a quarter of an mile without the town, and told him it was dangerous for him to venter into it by reason they all got notice[Pg 235] of his approach, and were in an uproar all under arms, and that all this was the effect of Mr. MacAulay’s letter.

The prince, raging with anger and fear, retired that night to my Lady Kildin’s house,[471] which lay about half a mile off without the town, and there he passed the remaining part of the night, notwithstanding that a great manny of the mob made a dreadful noise about the house a great part of the night. Having held a consultation with the lady what was properest to be done, she told him that his only safety consisted in returning to Benbicula again, under Clanranald’s protection, since his project in coming thither misgave. In order thereunto, she procured them a boat to cross Loch Stornaway, which was a nearer cut to return to Scalpa; where he left his boat and crew, having taken leave of the worthy lady, he set out about four o’clock in the morning, crossed the Loch, and arrived back at Donald Campbell’s house, that night, which was the 4th of May.[472] He was no sooner arrived but he found all the crew was gone except two, upon account the country people threatened to apprehend them.

The prince fearing to make a stay in any man’s house, who found out what he really was, and reckoning it impracticable to find as many men as would manage his own boat so soon as he would require [them], especially in the heart of an enemy’s country, he bought a small boat from Donald Campbell, whom it was said he bribed by giving him a sum of mony for to hold his tongue, and disown that he knew what he was. It seemed very difficult for them now to get safe into Benbicula, by reason the chanel was pestered with the English navy, sent there a purpose to hinder the prince or any of his party to make their escape. He set out upon the 5th from Scalpa, and[Pg 236] rowed along the coast the whole night; as they passed the mouth of the Finnasvay bay, they observed a ship in the harbour which they belived to be the Baltimore sloop of war, Thomas How Captain, a brother to my Lord How in Irland, and being seen from aboard the Baltimore she immediately sent off one of her long boats in pursuit of them, and chased them the whole night; about 5 aclock in the morning she came up pretty close to them, the prince terrefied at the approach of the enemy begg’d of the rowers to pull away strongly for fear to fall a sacrifice in the hands of these ravenous wolves, whereupon they ran in upon a ridge of rocks they observed betwixt them and the land, and there sculked close by one of the rocks to observe what course the Baltimore was to take next, while all of a sudden they saw her change her course, not able to find them out. Despairing of success she returned to her harbour.

The prince and his party, taking fresh courage, being free from danger that day, they determined as it was near day to draw nearer the land, and sculk there, ’till it was late, that the men might refresh themselves, for the fatigue of the ensueing night; they approached to the shore, and found it to be a desert island, about two leagues from the continent of the Herris, where they found no living creature. They were turned of provisions so short that a lippie of gradan oatmeal[473] was all that remained to them to satiate their hungry appetites, which some of the men took, put some water about it with a little salt, and fell a eating of it. The prince seeing them eat it as hearty as if it had been better cheer, ask’d them whither it tasted better than it look’t, they answered if he would only try it, he would be as well pleased with it as what they were, whereupon, calling for a little of it, he eat it as contentedly as the most delicate dish that ever was served upon his table, saying at the same time that it tasted pretty well, considering the ugly appearance it made. It was not long after, when Providence cast more plenty in their way, for one of the crew, who[Pg 237] was more curious than the rest, having gone to take a view of the island, found in the farther end of it abundance of cod and ling, half a barrel of salt and a pot. Although they were starving the whole day for hunger, yet they durst not make a fire, by reason they thought it dangerous to raise a smock upon the island, lest being seen from the continent it might discover them. When it grew dark the prince ordered the crew to carry some of the fish to the boat, when not a man, either simple or gentle obeyed him,[474] he himself went in a passion, and carried half a dozen of them in his arms, and threw them in the boat, saying since they were all so gentle and scroupelous, that he would take the sin upon himself, and show them the exemple; the whole crew dash’d and confused, would have load’d the boat if he permitted them. Now being about six o’clock, they put to sea, and landed in Benbicula the next day, a little after sunrise, in the very same harbour which they left some days before the 6th of May.

He set his foot no sooner ashore[475] but he sent an express for Clanranald, who came next night, having taken none with him but Neil MacDonald, who was there with him before. Upon Clanranald’s arrival, he seemed quite easie and told him that Providence had sent him under his protection, where he hoped to be sheltered, and that he was to throw himself in his hands to dispose of him as he thought fit. Clanranald assured him he had nothing to fear, and that he would find a place for his concealment, where none should have the least opportunity to see him, but such as he should employ to carry to him whatever he wanted.

After he had sufficiently refreshed himself for some days, it was thought dangerous to make any longer stay at Roshiness, because being a place much frequented by boats from the neighbouring countrys, they would be soon[Pg 238] discovered; for this reason, he was conducted from thence to Bareness, about three miles from Roshiness, where he had the conveniency of a little hutt of a house that was in the place, the entry of which was so very narrow, that he was forced to fall upon his knees, and creep in upon his belly, as often as he entered. This habitation not pleasing him, he begged of Clanranald to send him into some Christian place wherein he could have more room, and use more freedom and ease, for in that monstrous hole he could never have satisfaction, which he said the devil had left because he had not room enough in it.

The next day being the 10th of May, it was determined to send him to Corrodall, a little pleasant glen in South-West,[476] belonging to Neil MacDonald, where there was two country-houses, and conveniency enough for his concealment. Neil was appointed for to conduct him thither, whom he desired to remain still with him. About eleven aclock at night, they set out with Neil, who was their faithful guide, towards Corrodale, where they arrived next day about six in the afternoon; when they came near the house, Neil left him under a rock while he went in to see if there were no strangers there; and finding none but Ranald, his brother,[477] who had come thither the day before by Neil’s own orders, he presently returned where he left the prince, and conducted him to the house.[478] He seemed extraordinary well pleased with[Pg 239] the house, which he swore look’t like a palace in comparison of the abominable hole they had lately left. He sat upon a seat of green turf that was made up for him that same evening, and after taking a refreshment of gradan bread-and-cheese, and goats milk, upon which he fed very hearty, he desired his feet to be washed, being extreme dirty, and very much galled by his night walk; after which he smok’t a pipe of tobacco and went to bed, which being heather and green rushes, he slept soundly ’till twelve next day.

During this stay at Corrodale, which was five weeks,[479] his ordinary conversation was talking of the army, and of the battle of Colloden, and the highland chieftains whose lamentable case he deplored very much. One day as he was taking a walk in the morning with Neil MacDonald only, the subject of their discourse was describing to Neil the battle of Colloden, wherein he said his horse was shot under him; for (says he) as I was riding up to the right wing, my horse began to kick, at which I was much surprised, being very quiet, and peaceable formerly, and looking narrowly to him to see what was the matter with him, I observed the blood gushing out of his side. Oh! oh! says I (speaking of the horse), if this be the story with you, you have no less than reason to be uneasie, whereupon I was oblidged to dismount and take another. Then the conversation rowlled upon the order of the battle, and how he was forced to condescend to give the right hand to the Atholl-men and others, which he knew to be the MacDonald’s right, meerly by the perswation of my Lord George Murray, and several others, but however he did a great deal of justice and honour to the Mack Donalds, by assuring Neil they were the last that abandoned the field; and, moreover, that they would have had certainly been cut all to pieces, had not the pickets come to their relief, to whom he said, they owe an eternal obligation.

[Pg 240]

He blamed always my Lord George as being the only instrument in loseing the battle, and altho’ that he, the morning before the action, used all his rhetorick, and eloquence against fighting, yet my Lord George outreasoned him, ’till at last he yielded for fear to raise a dissension among the army, all which he attributed to his infidelity, roguery, and treachery.[480] He always flattered himself that the highlanders were still upon foot to hinder the enemy from harrassing their countrys, and conceived great hopes that they would be able to stand it out, ’till they got a relief from France. He was so fond to know what was passing among them, that he sent his boat twice to Mudort[481] for intelligence, and hearing of a skirmish betwixt Cluny MacPherson and a party of the elector’s troops in Badanack, of which Cluny had the better, it gave him no small joy: he had notice given him likewise that Borrisdale, upon whose courage and conduct he lay a great stress, was at the head of about three thousand men in Glenkuaak.[482] All these, and manny such like stories kept him still in top spirits, together with the expectation of a French landing in England, where he perswaded himself the Duke of York was landed at the head of ten thousand French, and assured those who durst not contradict him of the same.

It gave him a great deal of pleasure to look to the ships that passed in the Chanel every day, which he flattered himself to be French, though they were really some of the English fleet sent thither to guard the coast, and hinder any of the Highlanders to escape, and would have Neil to go and pilot to some harbour that they might not be lost. It was wonderfull how he preserved his health all the time, notwithstanding all the fatigue and troubles he underwent and the bad usage he met with very often; for I have not seen him one hour sick all the time I have[Pg 241] had the honour to accompany him, save only eight days he was troubled with a flux, which kept him very busie while it lasted; he had always a good appetite, and could eat any meat that came in his way, as well as those who was accustomed to it from their infancy. He took care to warm his stomach every morning with a hearty bumper of brandy, of which he always drank a vast deal; for he was seen to drink a whole bottle of a day without being in the least concerned.

He took a vast delight, when it was a good day, to sit up a stone that was before the door of the house, with his face turned towards the sun; and when he was desired to move from thence fearing to get a headache, he ordered them to pack about their business, that he knew himself what was good for him, better than they could describe, that the sun did him all the good in the world. Notwithstanding his melancholy fits, yet at other times he was so hearty and merry, that he danced for a whole hour together, having no other musick but some highland reel which he whistled away as he tripped along. It happened one day as he was walking along the coast with Neil and the rest of the gentlemen, being an excessive hot day, they spied a number of young whales approaching pretty near the shore, and observing them to make straight for the rock whereon they sat down, he sent immediately for his fusee, and as they came within his reach he fired at them; and being informed some time before that Neil was an incomparable good swimmer, he ordered him to strip and hall ashore the whale, which he swore he had shot dead. Neil, in obedience to his orders and to humour him, began to strip very slowly till he saw the whale which had received no hurt out of sight.

During his stay at Corrodale, Clanranald paid him several visits, as also all the gentlemen of the country, who sent him presents of all they possessed. As he now despared of any assistance from abroad, and wishing to be out of the Highlands, he thought of setting about getting a ship to transport himself out of the kingdom. In order thereunto, he sent off Mr. O’Neil and Captain[Pg 242] Donald MacDonald, Clanranald’s son, who joined him at his return from the Lewis, in order to go to France, thinking to get passage from the Lewis privately, to either Sweden or Denmark, from whence they were to pass into France.

Having received fifty guineas each to defray their charges, they set out for the Herris, where they were no sooner arrived but O’Neil, who was there with the prince before, was immediately known, and if he had not made his escape back to Benbicula, he had been apprehended without going any further, whereupon he returned to the prince, who did not care much for him ever after. Captain MacDonald, who pursued his journey towards the Lewis, met with the same fate at Stornaway, there, having found his uncle, Alexander MacLeod,[483] he carried him with him to his own house, where he lay concealed for a long time after, and returned to the prince no more.

The enemy, who was not idle all this time to inform themselves about him, got sufficient intelligence that he was in Wist, disposed of themselves so that it seemed impracticable for him to escape. That he might lose no time, he sent Neil as minister plenipotentiary to Boystile,[484] to treat with him to procure a boat for him, and sufficient hands for to manage it, in case of accidence—for now he was to attempt to gain the mainland, seeing there was no safety for him in Wist. Boystile, who did not go near him all the time for fear of suspicion, sent him back word with Neil, that he himself would come in person and consult with him what was properest to be done. Boystile came next day, and was received by the prince[Pg 243] with open arms, and found some of the gentlemen of the country who came to see him the day before, of whose number was Hugh Macdonald, of Ballissher, from North Wist,[485] who was ready to sacrifice his life and fortune for the prince’s safety (I say), Boystile at his arrival found all these lying in their bed, very much disordered by the foregoing night’s carouse, while his royal highness was the only one who was able to take care of the rest, in heaping them with plaids, and at the same time merrily sung the De Profundis for the rest of their souls.[486]

Neil, who was straggling every day about the neighbouring towns for intelligence, and who never missed to come in seasonable time with what news he gathered among the people, arrived, as the Prince, Boystile, and the other gentlemen were very busie and very hearty taking their bottle. It was always the prince’s custom whenever Neil returned from any expedition, to learn from him privately what news he brought before it was made public. Neil told him that two hundred of the[Pg 244] Sky militia, head’d by Hugh Macdonald, of Armidale,[487] and Alexander MacLeod of Ullish,[488] was landed at Barra, who was sent thither by my Lord Lowdian. Campbell, and MacLeod, having had an information that the prince was sculking in that country, and that these gentlemen’s orders were, after a diligent search made in Barra, to pass into South Wist, and to stay there guarding the coasts and foords in the country ’till they were reinforced by a greater number, and, moreover, that Captain Ferguson[489] was ordered to the Lewis for the same purpose, Captain MacKenzie to the Herris, and the Baltimore to cruize upon the coast of Wist, so that it seemed next to a miracle to have been able to escape. The prince, who always[Pg 245] appeared very gay and cheerful, notwithstanding his crosses and misfortunes, was very much dejected at this news; which Boystile observing, begged of him to be in no ways uneasie, that the danger was not so great as what he apprehended, and that he, despite of all the search of the enemy, would procure a place for him where he would not be exposed to the least danger till such time as a more favourable opportunity offered for making his escape; and fearing least the enemy might surprise them, being now three days in the country, Boystile took leave of him in order to prevent their coming so suddenly till he got time to fit into some other place.

Neil fearing the fickleness and the inconstancy of the common people, who might perhaps be perverted from their fidelity to discover him to his enemies, in hopes of a great reward, did not think proper to stay there any longer; whereupon, having got into their boat, which they always had nigh them, they set out about eleven o’clock at night, without acquainting any body of their design, except those who were partakers of it, and took the retreat towards Benbicula, and landed about break of day in Fuyia,[490] a desert island, about three miles from Roshiness, where they sculked for eight days.

During their stay in this solitude, he kept a private correspondence with Boystile about leaving the country, as it appeared impossible for him to conceal himself any longer from those cursed villains who left not a stone unturned to find him out. Boystyle, who used all endeavours to effect his design to get him safely conveyed to the mainland, lost no time to provide whatever necessaries their voyage required; when unluckily he himself was taken prisoner and carried away on board the Baltimore, so that that design perished, and came to nothing.

Upon the news of Boystile’s being made prisoner[491] he[Pg 246] expressed a great deal of regret for him, saying it was a great pity he should fall into the hands of such ruffians, who would have no regard for his merit, for really he was the honestest man (said he) I met with since my stay in the isles. While he stayed upon the island he went about the shore once or twice a day, to see if he could find out which was the most commodious hole or cave for hiding him in case some of the men of war that kept the channel still came to land any men. There he had occasion to see the Lady Clanranald, who came from Roshiness to have the honour of seeing him before he left the country, and carried along with her to him some of what necessaries he wanted: he received her very kindly, made much of her, and thanked her for her generosity, telling her next day at parting that he would not forget soon what kindness he met with in the country. They had plenty of bread and other meats during their retreat in that Patmos, but before the eight days was expired they were obliged to leave the hole to another party of the MacLeods who landed upon the island from Skay.

After being chased from thence they had no other resource but to return towards the south end of the country, upon hearing that the Skay militia had departed from Boystile’s house two days before, and were upon their march towards Benbicula, where they flattered themselves infallibly sure to find him. About eight o’clock at night, upon the 12th of July, they put to sea from Lochaskivay, and rowed the whole night along the coast, and as the day began to dawn Neil advised them to land in Lochskiport, and to stay there ’till it was late; but the prince, who was eager to be as far on that day as possibly he could, would not condescend, and so continued their voyage the whole day. About five in the afternoon they landed at Corrodale, where they refreshed themselves ’till it was ten, and arrived next morning at sunrise at the mouth of Lochynort, in South-Wist; they had not so much as one mouthful to eat that night of any kind, and having made up a tent of the oars and sail of the boat, he laid himself down upon a kind of a heather bed[Pg 247] that was made for him, while Neil stood sentry upon the rock before the tent door the whole night, after he had placed two of the crew whom he could trust most to about a mile off as an advanced guard.

When it was near day he asked Neil whether it was possible to find any meat, who told him it was impracticable, by reason the nearest town lay five miles off, whereupon he roused up the rest, and got into the boat and rowed to Stialay, a small island near the entry of Loch Boystile, within three long miles of Boystile’s house, being the 14th of July in the evening. They were no sooner landed and the tent made, than Neil posted off immediately to Boystile’s house for provisions; when he arrived, he found all the family in bed, and having knocked them up, he acquainted Boystile’s daughter who came first to the door with the princes being upon the Island of Stialay, where he had but very ill accommodation. She ran into the room where her stepmother[492] was in bed, bringing Neil along with her, who told the lady the miserable condition his royal highness was in, she got up in the greatest hurry, and sent off what was readiest to relieve them in the mean time, ’till such time she could get more prepared against the next night. Neil returned, charging the lady at parting, to learn what was passing among the enemy, and to inform them accordingly.

At his arrival he found the boat ashore waiting him, and having passed to the island, the prince met him at his landing, and asked of him if he got any meat. Neil told him that he brought some fresh butter and cheese and a few bottles of brandy. ‘Come, come,’ said he, ‘give me one of the bottles and a piece of the bread, for I was never so hungry since I was born’; which being given him, he took two or three hearty pulls of it before he came near the rest, which gave him so good an appetite, that he eat that night more than ever he was seen to eat at three ordinary meals, and all the rest did proportionably. After supper he called for the brandy-bottles,[Pg 248] and drank the king’s and the duke’s healths; which done, he wrapt himself in his plaid, laid down, and slept away the remaining part of the night very soundly.

Next morning there was a consultation held concerning the course they were to take from thence. Some were of opinion that they should venter to run for the continent in the small boat they had, of which the prince himself approved very much, saying he would rather drown than fall into the hands of those profligate fellows who were in pursuit of him. Others were of opinion that the safest step they could take was, to make for some one of the Southren Isles of Barra, and the rather because the first party who came after him to the country landed first in that island, and it seemed very probable that they would not return there again. They all agreed to this last proposal, and that no time might be lost, they prepared every thing to set off next day, if the weather favoured them. This project came to nothing as well as the former, for the Lady Boystile sent an express that same afternoon, that one Captain Scott[493] was landed at Barra from Fort William, with a detachment of regular troops, in order to join the Skay militia in South-Wist, and that they intended, according as she was informed, to be at her house by ten o’clock next day, which she would inform him of, if possible, whatever happened.

This news put them in a greater consternation than ever, which obliged them to cross over to the other side of Loch Boystile that night for the more security. Next day about break of day, the prince sent off Rory MacDonald to learn whither Scott was arrived, and to bring[Pg 249] back word what was passing among them. Rory returned at eight o’clock, and told the prince that the lady, her daughter, and all the servants, were tied neck and heel in one house, in order to extort a confession from them of the prince’s being in the country; while her seller and all her most valuable effects were left to the mercy of the ungenerous soldiers, who were busie in carrying the plunder to their boats. The news of the ladies ill-treatment struck such a terror into the minds of the timorous crew, that they immediately sunk the boat, and abandoned the prince and the few gentlemen who accompanied him. In this desperate condition there was no remedy to be thought upon, but to dismiss the few gentlemen that accompanied till then, and retire to the mountains; whereupon having left every body to shift for himself (of whose number was O’Sullivan, who was left under a rock with the best part of the prince’s baggage), the prince, with Neil and MacO’Neil,[494] made for the top of the nearest hill, that from thence they might have a better view of their enemies motion, and take further resolution how they were to dispose of themselves next.[495]

I forgot to tell that when Captain Scott landed in South-Wist, Hugh MacDonald,[496] who lay in Benbicula then with his party, sent one of the country gentlemen in whom he could repose a great deal of trust, to tell the prince privately that, as it seemed now impossible for him to[Pg 250] conceal himself any longer in the country, if he would venter to be advised by him, though an enemy in appearance yet a sure friend in his heart, he would fall upon a scheme to convoy him to the Isle of Skay, where he was sure to be protected by Lady Margaret MacDonald.[497] The scheme was this: to send his stepdaughter, Miss Florence MacDonald, to Sleet, to live with her mother ’till the enemy was out of Wist. The prince at the same time was ordered to dress in woman’s close, that he might pass for her servant-maid, and Neil was appointed to take care of both. The scheme pleased the prince mightely, and he seemed very impatient to see it put in execution.

But to return to the top of the hill, the prince with Neil and Mr. O’Neil remained there the whole day. About sunset the prince told Neil that he entrusted himself in his hands, and that his life and safety depended upon him, Neil answered that the charge was more than what his life was worth; but yet, with God’s assistance that he would find means to preserve him from all danger till every thing was got ready to leave the country. After this they took a refreshment of bread-and-cheese, and set out towards the north end of the country, every body carrying his own share of the baggage, the prince carried his own few shirts, O’Neill carried his own linnen, and Neil carried the provision, his own gun and sword, and the prince’s fusee and one of his holsters, while the other hung upon his own belt. As they were going on, the prince clapt Neil’s shoulder, often telling him if ever it was their good fortune to get free of their present troubles, he would make him live easie all his days for the fatigue of that night. Neil was informed some days before, that Miss Flora lived with her brother in a glen near Locheynort, where they had all their cattle a grazing at that time, and which happened to be very near the rod they were to pass that night.[498]

[Pg 251]

When the prince was informed of it, he would needs go to see her, and tell her of the message he had from her stepfather. When they were near the little house where she was asleep, for her brother was not at home, Neil left the prince and O’Neil at a little distance off,’till he went in and wakened her; she got scarcely on the half of her close, when the prince, with his baggage upon his back, was at the door, and saluted her very kindly; after which she brought to him a part of the best cheer she had, among the rest was a large bowl full of creme, of which he took two or three hearty go-downs, and his fellow-travellers swallowed the rest.

He discovered to her her stepfather’s proposal, and ask’t whether she was willing to run the risque. She joyfully accepted of the offer without the least hesitation, and that no time might be lost, she was ordered immediately away to Benbicula to consult with her step-father and the Lady Clanranald, to get every thing in readiness as soon as possible, and to send them word back again next day how all was going on with them. Having taken leave of Miss Flora, they pursued their journey, and about sunrise they arrived upon the side of a hill three miles from Corrodale, where they sate down under a rock in order to take some rest. The prince, as he took no victuals the night before, complained of hunger, and ask’t of Neil if he had any thing to eat; Neil gave him a piece of bread-and-cheese that Miss MacDonald had given him the night before. After he eat of it very heartily, he laid himself down and slept, while Neil stood sentry upon him all the time; when he and O’Neil was[Pg 252] sufficiently rested, he ordered Neil to take some rest, and sent O’Neil to mount guard in his turn.

When it was drawn late, the prince ask’t Neil if there was any possibility of getting any supper; Neil told him he would find enough, and leaving the prince and O’Neil under the same rock, he went and bought abundance of such cheer as the neighbourhood could afford. The prince was prodigious impatient the whole afternoon for Miss Flora’s answer, and despairing to hear a word from her that night, he sent off Neil, at eight o’clock at night, to Benbicula, with strict orders to be back next day at four in the afternoon, under pain of gaining his displeasure for ever. Neil, notwithstanding the fatigue and the length of the journey (which was thirty miles backward and forward), willingly condescended.

When he arrived at the fourds which seperates Benbicula from South Wist,[499] he found them all guard’d by the Skay militia, who had placed sentries within a gun shot of each other from east to west; their consigne was to let pass no person whatsoever until he was examined first by the captain of the guard; by this means Neil was stopped, and was kept prisoner there till next morning, when it was low water Neil was sent away to the captain of the guard on the other side, who happened to be Hugh MacDonald; when Neil went in he found Miss MacDonald, who was stopped in the same manner by another party of the MacLeods, who had the guard two nights before, with some other gentlemen at breakfast with Mr. MacDonald. Neil call’d miss aside, and ask’t if every thing was ready, she told him as it was put out of her power to go on the length of the Lady Clanranald, that nothing was as yet done, but that she was going off within half an hour after to consult with the lady, and designed to go to Roshiness, both of them, that same afternoon, and carry along with them whatever clothes or provisions was requisite for the voyage, and she begg’d of Neil to make[Pg 253] all the hast possible to return to the prince, and, without losing one moment of time, to make the best of his way to Rosshiness, where he would be sure to find them without fail.

Neil posted off immediately, and arrived at the prince at the hour he had appointed, and found him under the same rock where he had left him; he no sooner saw Neil come in sight than he ran to meet him, and took him by the hand asking what news he had from Miss Flora; Neil told him what orders he had from the lady (as he called Miss Flora), after which they set out for Roshiness. The greatest difficulty for this journey was to find a boat to go by sea, as it was impossible to venture by land, because, as I have already told, all the fourds were guarded by the MacLeods; but God, who always provided whatever he had occasion for, removed this difficulty also, for when they arrived at the side of Lochskiport, there they found four country people who had come there some days before to fish, with a small yawl.

Neil knew them immediately, and agreed with them for to ferry him and two other gentlemen that were with him over to Fouay, where they expected to meet with Ranald MacDonald (called Walpole);[500] but when they landed upon the island they found no living soul of either man or beast upon it; being, at this time, clear daylight, they could not bring the boat no further, for fear to be seen from the land, wherefore they ordered the boat men to land them on the nearest rock of Benbicula, that from thence they might go afoot to Roshiness, which done, Neil payed the boatmen and sent them away home.

The prince sate down upon the rock where they had land’d, and, being quite overcome for want of rest, he fell asleep, and so did O’Neil; during the time they slept Neil thought proper to take a walk round about[Pg 254] for fear that any body should come upon them at any unawares; but he had not gone ten yards from them, when he observed an arm of the sea come in betwixt him and the rest of the land, which formed an island; he returned immediately and informed the prince, who started up like a mad man and walked to the end of the island at such a rate as if he had a mind to fly over to the other side, but his career was soon stopped; whereupon he fell a scoulding Neil as if it had been his fault, and the curse rascals (meaning the boatmen) who land’d them upon that desert island designedly that he might starve with hunger and cold, in short, there was no pacifying him till, at last, Neil told him to comfort himself, that he would sweem over to the other side and would bring a boat in half an hour’s time, from that moment he never gave Neil one minute’s rest, till, to please him, he began to strip, notwithstanding that it rained most prodigiously, when luckily Neil observed a rock appearing in the middle of the sound, and begg’d of the prince to allow him a little more time, that it seem’d very probable at low water they could pass over with dry feet without being obliged to hazard his life by sweeming, which was to be the ultimate resource, which happened accordingly, for in less than three quarters of an hour’s time, they passed over without wetting the soles of their shoes.[501]

The prince seem’d as well pleased when he got out of that labyrinth as if he was landed in France; he was so cold (for the rain pierced to his very skin) that he trembled, the moor being so plain that there was not the least bush, eminence, or hill to cover him from the weather, and he was so hungry that he was not able to walk, having eaten not a mouthful of any kind since the evening before.[Pg 255] In this deplorable condition it was hard to determine how to behave, but as there was no time to be lost, despite of rain and weather, he continued his journey for Roshiness, where he expected to find the ladies before him that night. When they had walkt about a quarter of a mile, they lighted accidentally upon two sheelings, where two of Clanranald’s tennants stay’d, who, seeing them coming, came to meet them. Neil, to prevent their coming too nigh, stept on and met them; they enquired what were these other two that came along with him.

Neil satisfied their curiosity by telling them they were poor Irish gentlemen, who made their escape from Culloden, and run to the country for shelter, and that it was an act of charity if they had any kind of eatables to give them some refreshment, for that they had not tasted meat for eight-and-forty hours before, whereupon the honest fellows order’d them to go in; the door of the hut was so low and narrow, that the prince was obliged to creep upon his belly. There they feasted splendidly upon such cheer as there was to be had, which was mostly milk kind; being thus sufficiently refreshed they went off, and as Neil was not thoroughly acquainted in that rod, he brought one of the fellows with him for a guide to whom he gave half a guinea for his pains. When they were within three miles of Roshiness, being at that time five in the afternoon, they laid down in a lock side among high heather, which was all the shelter they had from the rain.

There they past the remaining part of the day, the prince shivering with cold all the time. When it was late, they set out for Rosshiness, the night turned so dark that they could not see three yards before them, and the rain was so vehement, with the wind blowing directly in their teeth, that they could scarcely look where to set their foot; besides the rod was so very bad, that the prince, despite of what care Neil and O’Neil could take of him, fell at almost every step in some ditch or mire, where, very often, he lost his shoes, which gave Neil a vast deal of trouble and pains before he could fish them[Pg 256] up again, being sometimes obliged to put his hand to the very shoulder in the puddle for them.

After having surmounted all these troubles and difficulties, they at last arrived in the long wished for harbour. When they came near the house, Neil left the prince and O’Neil about a cannon-shot off, while he himself went in to see whether the ladies were come; but finding none but the man who took care of the house in bed with his wife, who told him that twenty of the Skay militia who landed there two days before, were in a tent about a quarter of a mile of the house, he returned to the prince with that dismal news, which so enraged him, that he was like to tear his clothes in pieces, not knowing where to run for safety, the enemy being every where.

The guide, though he did not understand the language they spoke, yet understood the confusion they were in, told them there was one of Clanranald’s boomen[502] not far off, into whose house they might go with safety till they came to a further resolution. They immediately betook themselves thither, and I leave the reader to judge what a bonny figure they made when they came to examine themselves before light, all bespattered with dirt and mud, after the foregoing night’s walk. There he resolved to return Neil to Nuntown[503] to inform Miss MacDonald that he was arrived, and to hasten her to come without any longer delay.

Neil, who foresaw clearly the danger he would be exposed to, if he was left with a man who knew not one step of the country, or where to retire to in case of necessity, absolutely denied to part with the prince upon any account, and so Mr. O’Neill was obliged to go upon that expedition; who was mighty well pleased to be entrusted with that embassy, not so much to further the prince’s affairs, as to be in company with Miss Flora, for whom he professed a great deal of kindness at that time. About[Pg 257] break of day, the Booman’s wife told Neil that it was dangerous for them to stay in the house any longer because the militia were wont to come every morning to buy milk, whereupon Neil and his pupil went and lodged under a rock pretty near the shore, where the Booman sent one of his derry maids to give them notice from time to time, what was passing among their neighbour enemies.

It is almost inexpressible what torment the prince suffered under that unhappy rock which had neither height nor bredth to cover him from the rain which poured down upon him so thick as if all the windows of heaven had broke open, and, to compleat his tortures, there lay such a swarm of mitches upon his face and hands as would have made any other but himself fall into despair, which, notwithstanding his incomparable patience, made him utter such hideous cries and complaints as would have rent the rocks with compassion.

Neil, who stood all this time aside him, could be of no more service to him than to let run to the ground the rain which stagnated in the lurks of the plaid wherein he lay wrapt. In this miserable condition he continued for about three hours, till their faithful scoote came for the last time, and told them they might return to the house, for that the militia was gone; Neil helped him to his feet, and they marched away to the house, where the good derrymaid took care to make a roozing fire for their coming. He was no sooner entered but Neil stripped him of all his clothes from top to toe, and hung rops round the house to dry them on; he sate down in his shirt at the fireside as merry and hearty as if he was in the best room at Whitehall.

After he had warmed himself, he desired Neil to ask the wife if she had any eatables. She said that she had nothing except a chapin of milk she kept for her bairns, which Neil desired her to warm in a pot, and when it was hot to froth it up with the machine made for that purpose. When all was ready, the wife placed the pot before the prince and Neil, and gave them two horn spoons as coarse as ever was made use of, the prince ask’t Neil[Pg 258] what it was, who told it was fresh creme, he not doubting but it was really so, and at the same time believing it to be solid, pushed his hand to the very wrist in the scalded milk, which made him draw back his hand in the greatest hurry, all full of wrath, and dropt his spoon in the pot. Neil had all the difficulty imaginable to keep his gravity, to hear him curse the wife and her pot a hundred times, calling her a vile witch for (says he) she contrived it a purpose that we might burn ourselves. Neil, seeing him altogether out of humour, in order to pacify him, told he would take a stick and labour her to an inch of her life with it, and immediately ran to an oar of the boat that was lying before him to knock out her brains. The prince, believing him to be serious, begged of him not to touch her, for, if he came to do her any hurt, she would certainly run off and bring a party upon them.

After this repas, the prince inclined to sleep a little, as he rested none the night before; but to get a bed for him was the question—in short, there was no better shift than to take the leaf of the door, and lay it down upon the floor, and spread an old ragged sail over it, which Neil found in the house; there he slept some hours wrapt in his wet plaid. The guide, who went with O’Neil the night before to Clanranald’s house, returned towards evening, who brought along with him a rosted fowl, and a couples of bottles of wine, and a letter from O’Neil to the prince, the contents of which I could not find out, though it’s very probable he excused himself for not returning, under pretence to hasten all matters for leaving the country. The prince supp’t very heartily upon what the lady had sent him, and afterwards slept soundly upon a heather bed, which Neil made for him.

Next morning the prince wrote a letter to O’Neil by the same post that brought the former, desiring him to come to him that night; but O’Neil contented himself to return him an answer by the same bearer, telling him he could not come by reason that he waited Miss McDonald and the Lady Clanranald, who was to come next day without fail.

[Pg 259]

The prince waited that day in the house of Roshiness. Next morning Neil carried him to a hill half way betwixt Roshiness and Nuntown;[504] there they lay till the evening, when they returned to their former quarters.

The prince seemed very uneasie that night that neither Mac O’Neil nor the ladys did not come according to promise; but the truth is, thay could not really come sooner, as they were busie night and day to get his dress made for the prince, and whatever other things he might have occasion for. The next day Rory McDonald, and one John McDonald, who were to be two of our crew, arrived in the morning, and told that both boat and crew were ready whenever he pleased.

Whereupon Neil carried the prince to the same hill where they had sculked the day before, and leaving him in the hands of the two McDonalds before mentioned, posted off himself to hurry the ladys from Nuntown, and sent off O’Neil directly to the place where he left the prince when himself went with the Lady Clan, Miss Flora McDonald, Clanranald’s daughter, and Mr. McDonald of Milltown, Miss Flora’s brother, about another rod, where they were to have the conveniency of a boat to Roshiness.

The prince, who arrived first, welcomed them ashore, and handed the Lady Clan to the house, while O’Neil took care of Miss Flora. There they passed some hours very hearty and merry till supper was served, which was scarce began, when one of Clanranald’s herds came with the news that General Campbell[505] was landing his men[Pg 260] within three miles of them. The supper thus ended, which was hardly begun—all run to their boat in the greatest confusion, every one carrying with him whatever part of the baggage came first to his hand, without either regard to sex or quality, they crossed Lochisguiway,[506] and, about five in the morning, landed on the other side, where they ended the supper.

About eight a servant came to the Lady Clanranald to acquaint her that General Campbell, with a party of his men, were at her house, and wanted that she should be there before twelve of the clock otherwise that her house should suffer for all. Here the lady and her daughter took leave of the prince and went off. Great was the debate betwixt Miss Flora and O’Neil upon this occasion, who insisted strongly to leave the country with the prince; but Miss McDonald would never condescend, because he being a stranger, and consequently did not speak the language of the country, would readily be taken notice of by the common sort, and so took leave of the prince and Miss, made the best of his way to South Wist along with Milltown.

The company being gone, the prince, stript of his own cloaths, was dressed by Miss Flora in his new attire, but could not keep his hands from adjusting his head dress, which he cursed a thousand times. There they lay till the evening, waiting impatiently for the night to set off. Here they were alarmed by five wherries, the same, as they supposed, that landed the Campbells the night before in Benbicula, supposing, by taking this precaution, to keep the prince from making his escape. But their fears were soon over; for the wherries sailed by to the southward without ever stopping. After sunset they got into their boat, which was managed by the following persons—Rory McDonald, John McDonald, John McMurich, Duncan Campbell, and Rory McDonald of Glengary family; the prince passed for Miss McDonald’s maid, and Neil McDonald in the quality of a servant.[507]

[Pg 261]

The weather proving calm in the beginning of the night, they rowed away at a good rate; but, about twelve, there blew a gale of westerly wind, which eased the Rowers not little, but at the same time there came on such thick mist as robbed them of the sight of all lands; great was the debate among the boatmen upon this occasion, some asserted that they lost their course, while others maintained the contrary, till their dispute end’d at last to cease rowing till day would decide their error. In the morning, the weather being quite clear, they rowed along the coast of Sky, but the wind, shifting about to the north, blew at nine o’clock so strong in their teeth, that for an hour and a half it was impossible to discern whether they made any way or not.

The prince, who, all this time, was not in the least discouraged, encouraged them to row still better, saying that he would relieve him that was most fatigued. The poor men, almost ready to breathe out their last, at length made the point of Watersay on the north corner of the Isle of Sky, where, having got into a cliff in a rock, they rested themselves for an hour, and at the same time revived their drooping spirits with a plentiful repas of bread and butter, while the water that fell from the top of the rock furnished them drink.

This gave them fresh vigour for to undertake the remaining part of their labour, the weather being quite calm again, they rowed round the point close by the land. They had not gone far on the other side, when they spyed two centrys upon shore, one of whom approached nearer, and ordered them to put to, but they rowed the faster; which he observing, advanced as far as the sea would permitt him, bad them put to, a second time in a more threatning manner, and seeing them like not to obey, he cocked his piece, which he thought to fire upon them, but, as Providence ordered it, she misgave, and so he was disappointed. The other who look’d on all this time, made to heels to a neighbouring village, about a cannon shot off, to acquaint their officer (if there was any) of what had happened.

[Pg 262]

The boatmen, justly judging what he was going about, made them now row for dear blood. They very soon saw the event of their conjectures, for a body of about fifteen men, full armed, marched straight from the village to the rock, where their centry was post’d, and if they had the presence of mind to launch out one of their boats (of which they had two close by them) we must have been inevitably taken.

The prince by this time was sensible of his error in not allowing the men at parting from Uist to have any arms in the boat, which if they had had, were fully resolved to fight it out to the last man, notwithstanding the inequality of numbers. The enemy seeing it quite out of their power to execute their design in coming thither, as we got fairly out of their reach, took a walk along the shore, without giving the prince or crew any uneasiness, further than to gaze at them till they landed in Kilbride in Troterniss within a cannon shot of Sir Alexander McDonald’s house,[508] twelve miles from the place where we saw the enemy.

In the neighbourhood of this place was another party of the Sky militia, who was post’d there to examine all boats that came from the isles, as they were pretty well assured that the prince was there at that time. Miss and Neil having kept the prince in the boat as well as they could, went to the house, leaving strict orders with the boatmen not to stir from it till they came back, or some word from them, and in case their curiosity led any body[Pg 263] thither, who might perhaps take the liberty to ask who was the person kept in the boat, to answer Miss McDonald’s maid, and to curse her for a lazy jade, what was she good for, since she did not attend her Mrs.

When they were come near the house, they were informed by a servant that Sir Alexander was gone for Fort Augustus some days before to wait upon Cumberland, and that there was no company with the lady but two gentlemen, to wit, McDonald of Kingsbourg,[509] and Lieutenant McLeod,[510] commander of the party before mentioned, and one Mrs. McDonald who came the day before from North Wist, and who was so strictly examined by the party upon the point of Waternish (taking her to be the prince in disguise), that she was at all the pains imaginable to keep off the soldiers’ hands from examining her person too closely, which must have been the Prince’s fate had he fallen into their hands.

Miss Flora having met with one Miss McDonald, Lady Margarate’s gentlewoman, sent her to acquaint her lady that she wanted to speak to her, who came back and carried Miss Flora to the lady’s apartment, where she told all the circumstances of the prince’s escape from the isles, and that she must harbour him as he came now under her protection.

The lady, in the greatest perplexity, was at a loss how to behave upon this occasion, for her hurry and impatience hindred her to fall upon proper means to get the prince conveyed privately to the house, especially at such an improper hour as eleven o’clock of the day. Whereupon she sent for Kingsborough, to whom she disclosed the whole secret. Kingsborough, without being in the least discomposed, explained to her the danger the[Pg 264] prince and her would be exposed to if she insisted to have him brought to her house, where she was to entertain one of the king’s officers that day, who could not miss to see and take notice of the person in disguise, as well as every body else about the town.

Having got the lady at last to yield, though with great reluctancy, he ordered Neil to return to the prince, and to carry him to the back of a hill, a long mile from the house of Mungstot, and there to wait till he came to join them, and ordered that some light clothes should be packt in the form of a bundle, for the prince to carry on his back, as if it had been some of Miss Flora’s baggage, which done, they set out for the hill, but they had not gone far, when tiring of his burden, which he carried very awkwardly, threw it from him, leaving it for Neil to carry, or leave, as he should think fit. It was in vain that Neil insisted he would take it again, but he would never condescend, saying that he had carried it long enough.

When they came to the place of meeting they sate down upon the side of a hillock, where they wait’d for Kingsborough. The prince, who was a long time silent and very pensive, ask’d Neil whether he had carried his case of knives from the boat; Neil, who did not miss them till then, answered he had not; ‘Then,’ said the prince, ‘you must return and look for them.’—‘Shall I for the sakes of all the knives in the universe leave you here all alone?’ reply’d Neil.—‘There will be no fears of me,’ said he, ‘do you what you are ordered, for I must absolutely have it, so no more words.’ Neil still opposed, but in vain; seeing him at last quite out of humour, and ready to fly in a passion, went leaving him there within a gun shot of the high rod, without a soul along with him.

When Neil returned he found Kingsborough with him taking a glass of wine, which Lady Margarate MacDonald had sent by Kingsborough, together with some few biscuits of which he ate a little, and gave the rest to Neil[Pg 265] to keep for him till another occasion. About an hour before sunset they set off for Kingsborough, where they were to be that night. Miss Flora, who staid for dinner at Mungstot, that she might not be suspected by Lieut. MacLeod, followed a horseback at some distance, and was mightily diverted to hear several of the country people with whom she fell in upon the road, as they returned from the meeting house at Mungstot, it being Sunday, make their remarks upon the behaviour of Betty Burk, her maid, which name the prince borrowed when he left the Isle of Wist.

Neil, who walked a little behind the prince, and Kingsborough, hearing the subject the fellows were upon, went slower till they came up and joined him, but they, notwithstanding, continued to speak with the same freedom as before, of the impudence and assurance of Miss Burk, who was not ashamed to walk and keep company with Kingsborough, and was no less vexed than surprised how he took so much notice of her, when he never minded her mistress, who was so near at hand. Betty, very easie of what would be said of her, went on always at such a rate, that she very often got a piece before her fellow travellers, which gave occasion to some of the fellows to cry out, ‘Curse the wretch do you observe, sir (meaning Neil), what terrible steps she takes, how manly she walks, how carelessly she carries her dress,’ and a hundred such like expressions, which they repeated over and over again.

But what they most took notice of all was, when Kingsborough and his companion was come to a rivulet about knee deep, which crossed the high rod, to see Burk take up her petty coats so high when she entred the water. The poor fellows were quite confounded at this last sight, which made them rail out against Burk, calling her all the names in the world, and ask’t of Neil if he was acquainted with her. Neil told them that he knew nothing about her further than to hear she was an Irish girl who met with Miss MacDonald in Wist, and uppon a report[Pg 266] of her being a famous spinister of lint, engaged her for her mother’s use.

The honest people soon after departed with Neil and Miss Flora, and made for their different homes full of astonish——

[Manuscript ends abruptly.]

[Pg 267]


[Pg 268]

A SHORT NARRATIVE OF THE CONDUCT OF LUDOVICK GRANT OF GRANT DURING THE REBELLION

Note.—Many of the letters enclosed by Ludovick Grant as appendixes to his narrative are printed in Sir William Fraser’s Chiefs of Grant. With a few exceptions these have not been reprinted here, but a reference is given to where they may be found in the second volume of the Chiefs of Grant, and a brief abstract is given of the more important letters. The letters referred to by Ludovick Grant which are not given by Sir William Fraser are here printed in full.


[Pg 269]

A SHORT NARRATIVE OF MR. GRANT’S CONDUCT DURING THE REBELLION

The first advice that Mr. Grant got that any invasion or insurrection was intended was by a letter from Mr. Craigie, at that time his Majesty’s Advocate,[511] of date 5th August 1745 (Appen. No. 1st),[512] which came to his hands at his House of Grange-Hill in the low Country of Murray on Saturday 10th, and next day he had an account, that the young Pretender with some forces had actually landed and heard various and different Reports of their numbers.

Thereupon Sir James Grant and Mr. Grant went Monday the 12th to Castle Grant. Their country was all the time disarmed by authority of an Act of Parliament, nor durst they appear in arms otherwise than as Directed by the Statute, without Rendering themselves obnoxious to the Law, and att the Mercy of the proper officers, to whom the Execution of it was Committed. And they could not but observe, that his Majesty’s Advocate, however well satisfied he was of their zeal, yet makes no insinuation of their raising their Friends and Clan in arms: on the contrary says in Generall that at London they have no good opinion of this Country, and Desires no more of Mr. Grant, than to have a sharp look out, and send him Intelligence how matters go. For these Reasons Mr. Grant contented himself with calling together the Gentlemen in that country and causing enquire what arms could be found, should there be occasion for using them—

[Pg 270]

And he was the more confirmed in this opinion by advices he had that Lord President was returned to Culloden and had had Interviews with Severalls of his Friends, Chiefs and other Clans, yet he sent no message, nor made any insinuation to Mr. Grant that it was proper for him to appear in arms.

August 24th Mr. Grant Received another Letter from Lord Advocate, dated the 20th (App. No. 2)[513] in answer to one that Mr. Grant wrote the 15th with such Intelligence as he had then got of the Rebells. In that Letter he acquaints Mr. Grant that the Troops were in full march from Stirling which he hoped would be soon in Mr. Grant’s Neighbourhood; but he gives no authority nor advice to Mr. Grant to arm his Father’s clan unless that was intended by the Dark and ambiguous words that follow, viz. Which with the Assistance of His Majesty’s Friends it is hoped will restore quiet to the Country. But Mr. Grant was and still is persuaded that had such been my Lord Advocates meaning his Lordship who well knew the Law, and had reason to know in fact that the country was not half armed, would have expressed it in very different and plainer Terms.

Next Day after the Receipt of this letter Mr. Grant having got advice that Sir John Cope with the army under his Command were already past Tay Bridge[514] wrote to Sir John The Letter (App. No. 3),[515] which he sent by one of his[Pg 271] friends Robert Grant, now Ensign and Adjutant in Loudouns Regiment, whom he also Informed what number of arms were, according to the Reports made to Mr. Grant, found in the Country, and what number of men could be raised on short warning to the end that if Sir John should Demand any Assistance, that Gentleman might be able to inform him what he could expect.

This Gentleman instead of finding Sir John about Delnacardoch or to the southward of it, as Mr. Grant hoped he should, found him at Ruthven of Badenoch,[516] and Returned to Mr. Grant Monday the 26th at night without any other answer to his Letter than a verball message that Sir John thanked him for it. He further Informed Mr. Grant that Sir John, instead of going in quest of the Rebells, was marching to Inverness to avoid them and that next night he was to encamp in the head of Strathspey.

About this time Mr. Grant had advice that the Person called Duke of Perth was in Braemar raising the Highlanders in that country, that the Mackintoshes and M‘Phersons were all in concert with the Rebells[517] that their[Pg 272] plan was that they, and even the Pretender and the Highlanders with him, were to march down through Strathspey, and join Perth, and march through Strathaven, Glenlivet, and into Aberdeenshire and so Southward before Sir John Cope, raising all the men in the Country through which they marched. This obliged Mr. Grant to set about raising his Friends as fast as possible for Defence of his own country, which upon Sir John’s marching to Inverness behoved to be quite naked and exposed to them, and Deprived him of the Honour of waiting on Sir John as he intended to have done, when he was encamped in the head of Strathspey; However as Sir John was quite a stranger to the country, and there were some Dangerous passes in it he sent three of the Gentlemen of the country to wait on him and with orders to raise 40 or 50 of the men nearest to these grounds to serve him as Guides and give him Intelligence and with them to patrole in the Neighbouring Hills, not only all Nights but till the Army was quite clear of these Passes, and out of any kind of Danger from the Rebells; While Mr. Grant at the same time was gathering his Friends and cantoning them in the proper passes, to prevent if possible the Rebells entering his country, they having the very next day or second day after Sir John past made a march with six or seven hundred men, that pointed as if that had been their Design.

Mr. Grant therefore could not help being greatly surprised with accounts he had a few days after from Lord Lyon[518] by his letter without date (App. No. 4),[519] ‘that Sir[Pg 273] John Cope complained that tho’ Mr. Grant in his letter wrote him, that he and his people were ready to join and assist him, yet by some fatall advice, he woud neither join him with one man, nor go near him, and that if he had been joined but with one hundred or two from each of the Highland Chiftains, that he was told by the ministry would join him, he would have done their Business; but instead of that not one man has joined him of which he has acquainted the Ministry.’

Lord Lyon must undoubtedly have misunderstood Sir John. A Coppy of Mr. Grants Letter to him is subjoined (App. No. 3). He had no call nor the least Insinuation from Sir John to join him, nor did he know that the Ministry expected, or had authorised either him or any other Chiftain of a Clan to raise men in arms to join him.

But it seemed still more surprising that tho’ Sir John had not called for any assistance from Mr. Grant when he was on his march north, yet after the Army was at Inverness, and out of all Danger from the Rebells, Lord[Pg 274] Lyon still prest Mr. Grants marching his men to join Sir John at Inverness, and which advice was enforced by Major Grant,[520] Governour of Fort George, who came on purpose on that account to Castle Grant: But as the M‘Phersons and M‘Intoshes were then Rising and Glenbucket was in Strathaven and Glenlivet committing the Greatest outrages, even burning Houses to force out the Men, such a measure must, without doing the smallest service to the Government, have Involved his own Country of Strathspey in absolute ruin. Yet Mr. Grant agreed with Major Grant, that if Sir John was to march directly in quest of the Rebells, he would join him with all the men he could possibly raise, tho’ he could not agree to leave his own Country Exposed, to join Sir John if he was to march where there were no Rebells to be attacked.

Upon the Intelligence that Mr. Grant had of Glenbucket levying men in Strathaven, and the outrages committed there, particularly a letter from his sister Mrs. Grant of Ballindalloch, dated September 5 (App. No. 5),[521] He sent about two or three hundred men to Strathaven and upon their approach Glenbucket retired from that country whereof Mr. Grant acquainted Sir John Cope, then on his way to Aberdeen by a letter about the 10th September (App. No. 6).[522]

Mr. Grant got a Message from Lord President, Sept. 14th, Desiring an Interview, and as neither of them in the then situation of the Country could be absent a night from his own House, Mr. Grant met him Monday 17th at a place apointed, when the Lord President acquainted him, that he the Lord President was impowered by the[Pg 275] Government to raise some Company’s, That therefore he made offer of the first of them to him, and that he Mr. Grant should have the naming of all the Oficiers of that Company. Mr. Grant answered, that since he the Lord President proposed it, he would take the Company but could not name the Officers till he returned home, least by naming some, he might Disoblige others, but at the same time, gave his opinion that the raising some Companys would not do the service, and that it would be necessary to raise the whole of the Clans, that were Friends to the Government.

Upon Mr. Grants return to his own House, He and all the Gentlemen in the Country had got Information that the Lord President got the Disposall of Twenty Companys, he found them greatly Disobliged that only one of them was to be given to their Clan, which they thought very far short of the proportion they bore to the other Northern Clans, that were the avowed and constant Friends of his Majestys Government, and looked on it as a slight intended to them and that either it was intended, that no more of them but that company should be employed in the service, or if they were that it must be att their own expense while the other Favourite Clanns were to be payed by the Government. And for these Reasons Mr. Grant found greater Difficulty in naming the officers than he could foresee before he knew the number of the Companys to be raised. That if the measure of raising Companys were still insisted on that Mr. Grant rather than hurt the service would accept of four or even of three of them; But a smaller number would not employ the principal Gentlemen of the Clan nor satisfy any of them where so many companys were to be Disposed of.

Lord Deskfoord[523] was therefore prevailed with to go to Culloden to explain these things to Lord President and at[Pg 276] the same time to assure him, that the whole Clan should on all occasions be ready to act in the Governments service, only that it would be necessary to give them pay during the Time that they should be employed, because Mr. Grant’s private Fortune could not bear so great an expence.

Lord Deskfoord at his return reported the Lord President’s answer, That he was trusted with the Disposal of Twenty Companys, yet at the same time all possible economy was enjoined, That he could not therefore at first exceed one Company to any one Clan, That he knew the value and Importance in that country of the Family of Grant, and had for that reason offered the first to Mr. Grant, and should he refuse it others might follow his Example, and thereby the whole sceme miscarry. And whether it was the best measure that might have been proposed yet it being the only one that the Government had yet proposed for employing their friends in the north, a miscarriage might be of bade consequence. That he therefore hoped that where so much was at stake Mr. Grant would come over small Difficultys, and if in the future Distribution of these Companys due regard was not had to the Family of Grant That Mr. Grant would have reason to Complain.

Upon Consideration of this answer Mr. Grant satisfied his Friends, and with their approbation accepted of the Company offered, whereof he acquainted Lord President by his letter September 22d (App. No. 7),[524] and therein named the officers. And Lord President by his answer, Sept 24th, (App. No. 8),[525] Confirmed what Lord Deskfoord had reported of the Communing Between them, Approved the nomination Mr. Grant had made of Officers, and desired that the men might be ready at a call, because he Daily expected arms and money.

September 28th Lord President wrote to Mr. Grant,[Pg 277] (App. No. 9),[526] the Different accounts he had got of the Battle of Preston, and after Expressing his apprehension of the effects it might have in that country ‘Suggests That Mr. Grant should have all his people Alert that they might be able to do such service as the exegence might require, which would help to cause their Neighbours Consider.’

This was the first letter that Mr. Grant received from any Person intrusted by the Government that Directly proposed the raising his Men, other than the Company already mentioned and having received advices about the same time that the Farquharsons in Aberdeenshire were rising, and that the M‘Phersons were to march through Strathspey to join them, he furthwith rised all the men that he could Find any Kind of Arms for, and got together about seven hundred. The M‘Phersons did accordingly about two days after march near the Borders between Badenoch and Strathspey; but upon Mr. Grants marching up to meet them, they retired to Ruthven, and from thence to Cluny M‘Phersons house. But Mr. Grant having got Intelligence, that the M‘Intoshes were in Motion, he keeped his Men together for eight Days ’till he had certain notice that they had not moved.[527]

Mr. Grant had sent him by his Baillie in Urquhart Twelve miles benorth Inverness a Letter to the Baillie from Angus M‘Donald son to Glengarry,[528] Dated September the 30th, ordering the Tenants in that Country to Join his Standart (as he called it) and threatening in case of Disobedience to burn the Country, and was afterwards advised by the Baillie by a letter of October 8th that he had been prevented by the said Angus M‘Donald from Marching into Strathspey as Mr. Grant had ordered him with such of the Tenants as were willing to follow him, and that the Country would be ruined in ten Days. These[Pg 278] Letters Mr. Grant answered October 6th and 10th, exhorting them to continue stadefast to the Government, ordering the Baillie to bring the Men to Strathspey, and engaging[Pg 279] himself to repair all the Damage the Rebells should do them if they complyed with his order (App. No. 10, 11, 12, 13).[529]

[Pg 280]

Mr. Grant received a Letter from Lord Loudoun, October 11th (App. No. 14th),[530] acquainting him of his arival to command the Troops with one from Lord President, October 12th, Desiring him to bring the Company together, and to have them ready to march at a Call, and as many men as Mr. Grant could arm to have them ready on any Exigency if they were called out and adds ‘Ways and Means shall be fallen on to subsist them’ (App. No. 15),[531] and October 16th (App. No. 16),[532] Mr. Grant assures Lord Loudoun that he would exert himself to do everything in his power for his Majestys service under his Lordships Direction and Advice, acquaints him of his having sent a party to Banffshire to stop levying cess for the Pretender[Pg 281] (which effectually did at that time), and gives him notice that the Company was ready at a Call.

October 22d and 23d Mr. Grant received from John Grant his Chamberlain or Steward in Urquhart Two letters, Dated 21st and 22d October (App. No. 17 and 18),[533][Pg 282] Aquainting him that Glengarry’s son, M‘Donald of Barrisdale, Glenmoriston and the Master of Lovat, were come to force out his Tenents in Urquhart, and threatned to carrie away their whole Cattle, if they did not Join. That upon the Chamberlains assuring them, that Mr. Grant would make good all their Damages The Tenants absolutely refused to Join and resolved to oppose the M‘Donalds, should they attempt to carry off their Cattle, tho they were not able to resist both them and the Frasers, and aquainting him also of a Dispute between the Master of Lovat and Barrisdale which of them had the best title to these Tenents. The Master insisting that he had the best right to them except such of them as were of the name of M‘Donald whom he willingly yielded to Barrisdale, and that this Dispute had superseded the execution of their Threatnings Till it should be decided by Lord Lovat.

That Mr. Grant looked upon this as of the utmost immportance to the Government, that the King’s Faithfull subjects who were Determined even at the hazard of their lives and the whole of their little Fortunes to persevere in their Loyalty, should not suffer to be Dragged against their wills into the Rebellion and that too within Twelve miles of Inverness. He was at the same time aware, That Lord Loudoun who had then got no more than one of the new Companys the Monroes, not having yet called for the Grants, had not a force sufficient to leave Inverness, and to march against such Numbers as might be brought to oppose him, and as Urquhart is Distant about fourty miles from Castle Grant, There was no time to Deliberate, or to receive Lord Loudon’s Directions. Mr. Grant therefore forthwith assembled his friends to the number of betwixt six and seven Hundred tho many of them were ill armed, and Marched for Inverness in his way to Urquhart having[Pg 283] Recommended to Lord Deskfoord to give notice of his March and the Design of it by Express to the Earl of Loudoun and Lord President, and to begg that Lord Loudoun would order Quarters to be provided for the men at Inverness. But upon Saturday the 26th James Grant of Dell one of the Tenants in Urquhart met Mr. Grant upon his march with Accounts that the Rebells had Left Urquhart, and marched Northward to the country of Assint, and Mr. Grant thought himself Lucky that they had done so; for about the same Time The answer to Lord Deskfoords Letter signed by both Lord Loudoun and Lord President Dated October 26th (App. No. 19)[534] was brought him by Express ‘Wishing that Mr. Grant had Communicated to them his Design, before he set out with such numbers, which might have the effect to begin Horseplay before they were sufficiently prepared.’ And upon Receipt of this Letter Mr. Grant Dismissed his men except about 100 that he constantly Keept partly about his House and partly in some proper passes or Inlets to his Country.

November 3d Mr. Grant got a Letter from Lord Lewis Gordon in the Pretender’s name (App. No. 20),[535] Desiring[Pg 284] Mr. Grants allowance at least his connivance to raise men. Mr. Grant would not see the Messenger and ordered such a verbal answer to be given him as his Message Deserved, but being at the same Time Informed of Lord Lewis’s practices in Strathavin and of his Designs on Kincardine,[536] an Estate upon Speyside belonging to the Duke of Gordon, Mr. Grant raised about 200 men more and marched them to Abernethy lying betwixt Strathaven and Kincardine, and thereby not only prevented Lord Lewis from forcing out any men in Kincardine, but also obliged him to retreat from Strathavin, and give over for that time his recruiting there.

November 7th Mr. Grant Received a Letter from Lord Loudoun, Dated Nov. 5 (App. No. 21),[537] commending the Company of Grants that had been sent to him, and if Mr. Grant should need any assistance against Lord Lewis Gordon, promising all he could give him and at the same time got a letter from the President of the same Date, (App. No. 22),[538] and to the same effect. And in this Letter he for the first time made an offer to Mr. Grant of another Company and desired him to name the officers.

By this Time the Gentlemen in Strathspey heard it Reported that the Laird of M‘Leod was to have no less than four companys, and began to complain that Mr. Grant had accepted of even one Company; Therefore[Pg 285] instead of giving an answer in writing Mr. Grant chose to go to Inverness about November 10th and found that about 400 M‘Leods were already come to the neighbourhood of Inverness tho’ it was then said that 200 were to be employed and the rest to return Home.

Mr. Grant told Lord Loudoun and Lord President, that all his Friends were in perfect good Humour, and readie to venture their Lives and Fortunes in the service, and that it was of the outmost consequence to him to preserve that good spirit among them. That he found great Danger of Creating Jealousys and Animositys among them by raising the first Company, tho’ there would have been no Danger nor Difficulty in raising four or five. But as the Country was now in Great Ferment the Danger of Disobligeing many Gentlemen of his name would now be much greater should he accept of another Company, and thereby have the naming of the officers and no more. However upon their continuing to urge it Mr. Grant agreed to take it to consideration till he should return to Strathspey, and converse with the Gentlemen of the Country about it.

After Returning to Strathspey the Gentlemen had got certain accounts that M‘Leod had got four Companys, besides another to be given to his cousin M‘Leod of Genzies, and therefore cou’d not be persuaded to agree to Mr. Grants accepting of only one which they thought a very partial Distribution, and Mr. Grant by his Letter 29th November, whereof (vide the Coppy App. No. 23d),[539] aquainting the Lord Loudoun of their Resolutions; ‘but at the same time asured his Lordship that the whole body of the clan should be ready upon a few days notice to go upon any Duty under his Lordships eye or Command, that his Lordship should think for his Majesty’s service.’

In the same letter Mr. Grant after aquainting Lord Loudoun of the Great outrages the Rebells were committing in the shires of Banff and Aberdeen and noticing of what Importance it would be to relieve these Countys, and especially the Town of Aberdeen, from so grievous[Pg 286] oppression, beggs to have his Lordships commands and promises in five Days after Receiving his Lordships Orders to march with five or Six Hundred men to Aberdeen to restore the peace of those parts. Mr. Grant now felt the disadvantage of having accepted even of one Company; the want of 100 good men and of 100 broadswords and Pistols that he had at Lord Loudouns desire furnished them must have been a considerable loss in such an Expedition, however he thought himself strong enough without them for any body of the Rebells that he heard was in Aberdeenshire but as he could not forsee whether they might not be reinforced from Perth, therefore in that letter he also suggests that in case of any Reinforcements being sent from Perth to Aberdeen, it might be proper to send Captain Grants Company to his assistance, and hoped that in his absence Lord Loudoun would Protect his Country.

Lord Loudoun however did not think proper to give Mr. Grant these orders (and very likely he Judged better than Mr. Grant) for by his answer, December 2d (App. No. 24),[540] he aquaints Mr. Grant of an Expedition he was going upon, which would take him a few days. After which he proposed to march along the Coast for the Relief of that country, where, if it should prove necessary, he would expect and begg Mr. Grant’s assistance.

Earl of Findlater and Mr. Grant had repeated advices from Banffshire, particularly from the Earl of Findlaters Chamberlain and Mr. Grant of Auchynanie[541] of the oppressive demands made on the people of that country of men and Money, and Military Execution threatned, in case of Refusal and that December 10th was fixed for commencing such military Execution att Keith. Lord Findlater had thereupon, December 9th, wrote to Lord Loudoun and in his absence to Lord President begging relief and Mr.[Pg 287] Grant had given assurance to Auchynanie of Assistance how soon such violences should be begun, and December 11th at night he had a letter from Auchynanie of that days date, that they were already begun, and Lord Findater had one from his Chamberlain[542] much to the same purpose (vid. App. No. 25, 26, 27).[543] No Return was come from Lord Loudoun or the President, and there was[Pg 288] ground from their former Letters to presume, that Lord Loudoun was then upon another Expedition, and immediate relief seemed to be absolutely necessary. Mr. Grant thought therefore that he might be justly blamed by the Government as well as by his Friends in that Country should he stay tamely at home, waiting for orders from Lord Loudoun, and suffer them in the meantime to be ruined. Therefore he brought together 5 or 600 men and with them marched, December 12th, from Castle Grant, whereof he then acquainted Lord Loudoun by Express (App. No. 28th),[544] ‘That he proposed to be next night at Keith and endeavour to come up with Lord Lewis Gordons party, wherever they were, and that he would continue in that country with a force sufficient to keep the peace until he should receive his Lordships further Directions.’

The weather was so excessive bad and rainy that Mr. Grant by Mid Day of Saturday, the 14th, had got no further than Auflunkart within four miles of Keith, where he got Intelligence that upon notice of his March the Rebells had left Keith and gone to Fochabers. Mr. Grant therefore halted there that day to refresh his men and clean their arms, and there he received a Letter from Lord Findlater of December 13th (App. No. 29),[545] covering[Pg 289] Lord Presidents answer to his Lordship, Dated December 11th (App. No. 30),[546] which came to Castle Grant only the 13th. In that Letter he Informs Lord Findlater that on the 10th five or six hundred men had marched from Inverness towards Aberdeen by Elgin for the Relief of these Countys. That they were quickly to be followed by Lord Loudoun with as many more if needfull, and by a further force if it shall be wanted.

At the same time he had some accounts that Lord Loudoun was come to Murray, and that the Rebells had brought the boats on Spey to the East or Fochabers side of the River; Wherefore Mr. Grant sent a party of an hundred men who secured the boat of Bridge[547] which is[Pg 290] two miles further up the River and by Express aquainted Sir Harry Innes[548] at Elgin of what he had done, and Desired him to ask whether Lord Loudoun had any Commands for him, and that night he cantoned his men at Auflunkart Mulbain and adjacent villages.

Next morning Sir Harrie Innes came to him with a Letter from M‘Leod (App. No. 31),[549] Expressing ‘his joy at the news of the Grants being there, and aquainting him that he was at Elgin to attempt to pass Spey to assist in Protecting that country. That he heard the passage was to be Disputed, and that the Rebells had gathered all the boats at Bogg[550] to the East side, and that he was perswaded that Mr. Grants moving that way would Disperse them, and open that passage, which otherwise might be hazardous.’ (Vide Mr. Grants answer, App. No. 32.)[551]

Upon Receipt of this letter Mr. Grant marched towards Fochabers, but when he came within Two Miles of it, accounts were brought him, that on his approach the Rebells retired from it through the Enzie. Mr. Grant apprehending that they might have gone to Cullen, and taken Possession of Lord Findlaters House Detached a Party thither who took possession of it and the Town and prevented a party of the Rebells that had been sent thither for that purpose, and sent some gentlemen to wait of M‘Leod who passed the River without any opposition, and Mr. Grant again that night billetted his men, much in the same place they were the night before.

[Pg 291]

The Gentlemen sent to M‘Leod Brought Mr. Grant word, that he was to remain that night at Fochabers, and to march the next day the 16th to Cullen, wherefore Mr. Grant marched next day to Keith, and after Quartering his men and placing advance Guards some miles further towards Strathboggie, where he heard the main body of the Rebells was, he went himself to Cullen to assist the Deputy Sheriffs in accomodating M‘Leod and his men. For which purpose Mr. Grant had got a Commission of Sheriff Depute from Lord Findlater, and on the 17th returned back to Keith.

Mr. Grant aquainted M‘Leod of the Letter he had wrote to Lord Loudoun, and of his purpose to remain at Keith till further orders; but M‘Leod was very earnest with him to go forward, and was of opinion that he would receive orders to do so.

Upon Mr. Grants Return to Keith a Messenger brought him a Letter from Lord Lewis Gordon with a printed Declaration by Lord John Drummond and a printed Letter signed Marshall (App. No. 33).[552] These papers joined[Pg 292] with what M‘Leod had said Determined Mr. Grant to go at least to Strathboggie, and therefore returned a verbal answer by the Messenger who brought the Letter, ‘That if Lord Lewis with his men would be at Strathbogie, next Day at 12 o’clock Mr. Grant and his men should there give them the answer, which he was Determined should be proclaimed over the Cross and affixed upon it.’ He immediately aquainted M‘Leod by Express of his[Pg 293] Design and that night got his answer (App. No. 34),[553] with a letter from Captain Monro of Culcairne from Fochabers.

December 18th Mr. Grant marched to Strathboggie and upon his approach the Rebells fled, and there he made the Proclamation (App. No. 35)[554] and affixed it upon the most publick places and provided quarters for the Two Companys that Culcairn was bringing, fully Determined if he was not countermanded to proceed forward in Aberdeenshire as far as he could do any service to the Government, or give any assistance to M‘Leod, when on the 19th he received a letter from Lord Loudoun and another from[Pg 294] Lord Deskfoord, both dated at Inverness December 14th (App. No. 36, 37),[555][556] which pretty plainly apeared to Mr. Grant to be a Rebuke tho’ in very modest and polite terms for his undertaking that Expedition without orders and that Lord Loudoun, as he thought he had provided sufficiently for that service without Mr. Grant, he wished him rather to return than to proceed further, tho’ he wou’d give him no orders because he had given him none to go there. He therefore Resolved to return to Keith of which he aquainted Culcairne then at Strathboggie, as he did also[Pg 295] M‘Leod by express, vid. his Letter with M‘Leods answer—(App. No. 38, 39).[557][558]

Mr. Grant therefore Immediately returned to Strathspey but that as he apprehended that when M‘Leod was gone forward some small partys of the Rebells (whereof he had heard of severalls that could be formed in one Days time) might give Disturbance to the Country, he ventured even without orders to leave a party of 60 men at his house in Mulbain within Two miles of Fochabers, of which however he acquainted Lord Loudoun after his return to Castle Grant by a Letter, December 24th (App. No. 40),[559] wherein he renewed his offer of Employing his whole Clan, wherever Lord Loudoun should think they could be of any service to the Government, and that small party happened afterwards to be of good use after the Unlucky Disaster that happened to M‘Leods party at Inverury by securing the boats upon Spey to make good their Retreat. December 25th Mr. Grant received a letter from Sir Harrie Innes dated 24th December (App. No. 41),[560] with an Account of the Disaster at Inverury,[561] and that M‘Leod was come to Elgin and by his orders Desiring[Pg 296] Mr. Grant to have his men ready to oppose Lord Lewis Gordon, and at least to secure the boats upon Spey, and Sir Harry presses Mr. Grant to march his men the length of Rothes to the Protection of Murray, and December 29th he received Two letters one from the Magistrates of Elgin and another from Sir Harrie Innes, Dated December 28th, aquainting him that M‘Leod had marched to Forres and that by their Intelligence they Expected Lord Lewis Gordon with 500 men, and therefore begging Mr. Grant to come to protect them. Mr. Grant so far comply’d as to secure the Boats; but after the two reproofs he already got he did not think that he could be Justified if he should march his men a third time, without orders from Lord Loudoun, who surely could best judge when it was proper to employ his men. Therefore he wrote to the Magistrates his opinion, that Lord Lewis would not venture to Cross Spey while Lord Loudoun was so near him and he Mr. Grant above him, but that he could not promise to march any body of men but in concert with and by the Direction of Lord Loudoun (App. 42),[562] and he[Pg 297] could not help being pleased that he had given such an answer when afterwards he Received another letter from Sir Harry Innes wrote that same night, December 28th[Pg 298] (App. No. 43),[563] and Lord Loudouns Letter, December 30th (App. No. 44),[564] in answer to Mr. Grants to him of the 24, wherein he writes Mr. Grant, that he could not yet undertake any new operation; But that how soon he should find it proper to undertake any thing of moment towards the East, he should aquaint Mr. Grant in order to Concert together the most effectual way of Doing it.

[Pg 299]

January 9th, 1746, Mr. Grant wrote to my Lord Loudoun by James Grant his Chamberlain of Strathspey (App. No. 45),[565] concerning some new attempts that were made[Pg 300] to force his Tenents of Urquhart into the Rebellion. The reason of sending his Chamberlain was that he might explain to my Lord the particulars and receive his Lordships orders which he was directed to obey, and in that Letter after giving him some further Intelligence Mr. Grant writes as follows:—

‘I think it my Duty to take nottice to your Lordship that the Rebells are exerting themselves in every corner of the North to encrease their army. I therefore think it absolutely necessary that all the Friends of the Government should use their utmost efforts to Disconcert and Disperse them. I had a meeting yesterday with all the Gentlemen of this Country and I can assure your Lordship we wait only your Lordships order and Directions, and there is nothing in our power but we will do upon this Important occasion for the service of our King and Country. I wish it were possible to Assist us with some arms; and money to be sure would be also necessary; But give me leave to assure your Lordship, that the last Farthing I or any of my Friends have, or that our credit can procure us, shall be employed in supporting of our men upon any expedition your Lordship shall Direct us to undertake for this glorious Cause we are all Ingaged in. I wish to God your Lordship and the Lord President would think of some measure of conveening the whole body of the Kings Friends in the North, and I would[Pg 301] gladely hope we would form such a body as would in a Great Measure disconcert, and strike a Damp upon the army of the Rebells in the South and effectually put a stop to any further Junctions they may Expect benorth Stirling. And at the same time surely we might prevent their being Masters of so much of this North Coast as also hinder many of the Kings Subjects from being opprest by the exorbitant sums of Money the Rebells are at present Levying.’

January 17th Mr. Grant received Lord Loudouns Answer, Dated Jany 16 (App. No. 46),[566] approving indeed Mr. Grants sceme, but that he could not in the present Situation undertake it, till he had got a return to Letters he had sent for Instructions, and a little more certainty of the motions of the Rebells, and that how soon Instructions should arive, he should aquaint Mr. Grant and consult with him.

After this nothing Material happened in the North till the Retreat of the Rebells from Stirling and upon the first Intelligence of their coming to Blair[567] Mr. Grant again conveened his men to the number of above Six Hundred tho’ very ill armed whom he stationed in the properest manner he could either for Joining Lord Loudon (who he supposed would probably come to his assistance) to attack the Rebells at the passes in the entrance into the Country, or if Lord Loudoun should not come to his Assistance, and that the Rebells should be too numerous[Pg 302] for him to engage alone, so as to retire but keep in a body and prevent as far as possible their Destroying the Country or forcing away any of his men.

About February 8th Mr. Grant received a letter from Lord Loudoun, dated 7th (App. No. 47),[568] with what accounts he had of the Rebells motions, and of their Designs on that Country, which he did not seem to think they would soon attempt, and recommends to Mr. Grant first to employ people to get Intelligence, ‘And in the next place I hope you will have your people alert that we may Act by Concert and support one another which I asure you I will to the outmost.’

Mr. Grant obeyed both these Orders with all the Exactness that he was Capable of. Sunday, 19th February, he sent by his Chamberlain of Strathspey the Intelligence (App. No. 48),[569] wherein he[Pg 303] begged some arms if any could be spared, and Tuesday, February 11th, sent two Expresses with Intelligence[Pg 304] (vide App. No. 49),[570] that the Rebells were come the length of Ruthven.

February 12th Mr. Grant received Letters from Lord Loudoun and the President of the 11th with accounts that the arms were landed, That Mr. Grants Clan was well armed, yet in the Distribution Lord Loudoun would reserve as many as he could for him.

They seemed to think Mr. Grant in no Danger of being Disturbed by the Rebells, and mention their Readiness to receive the Rebells and support Mr. Grant (App. No. 50, 51).[571]

February 13th, Mr. Grant sent Lord Loudoun further Intelligence of the Rebells Motions and numbers, beggs to have if possible 400 guns, for that his people were extremely ill armed, tho’ to Deceive the Rebells he behoved to give out the contrary. And the 14th he sent more Intelligence to the Governor of Fort George to be communicated to Lord Loudoun and still Demanding Arms[Pg 305] (App. No. 52),[572] and still further on the 15th (App. No. 53),[573] when the Rebells were come into Strath Spey, the length of Avymore, and were that night to be at Inverlaidnan.[574] Lord Loudouns Letter of February 15th (App. No. 54),[575] which was the last he had from him while att Inverness came to hand Monday, 16th, telling that if the Rebells[Pg 306] should come he hoped to give them a Warm Reception. That as he was threatened with being attacked he could not spare a party to carry arms to Mr. Grant, but that if Mr. Grant would send Down 300 men he would provide them as well as he could.

After the 15th Mr. Grant durst not send any Letters to Lord Loudoun, but both the 16th and Munday the 17th (the Day that Inverness was taken)[576] he sent two Expresses each day with accounts of the Rebells motions. And even after Lord Loudoun was gone to Ross, Mr. Grant found means of conveying to him an account of His Royal Highness the Duke marching Northward from Perth, and by the same Conveyance got a Return signed by Lord Loudoun and the President, which he transmitted to Sir Everard Falconer.[577]

Mr. Grant was made to believe that his Royall Highness was Immediately following in Pursuit of the Highlanders, and therefore kept his men together in order to join the army till Sunday 23rd February that he received a letter from Mr. Murray, secretary to the Pretender (which at present is fallen by hand), Reproaching him for assisting the Government, and for the further offers of assistance made by his Father Sir James Grant which the Rebells had Discovered by Letters sent Mr. Grant by Express by Lord Justice Clerk whom they had Intercepted, and therefore ordering him Betwixt a Day limited to send to Inverness all the arms in the Country with hostages who were named in the Letter for the peaceable Behaviour of the Clan.

Mr. Grant at this time had Intelligence, that the[Pg 307] Macphersons, some of the Athol men and the Menzies were in a body in Badenoch above him that Glenbucket with about 300 men were in Strathaven and Glenlivet and that another party was Marching by Murray to enter Strathspey by the Lower end of it; He was Informed that the Duke was still at Perth. He was not an equal Match for all these partys alone, and could not hope for assistance from any Quarter. Therefore he had no Choice but that of either being Besieged in his own House or making good his retreat to the army. The House could not hold out long, and therefore the other was resolved on, and he chose rather to force his way against Glenbucket, than to venture by Ruthven where the M‘Donalds by Joining the M‘Phersons had it in their power to intercept them.

Monday 24th Feby. Lord Findlater and Mr. Grant and their Ladys set out for Strathaven escorted by between 5 and 600 men, and the Better to encourage them to leave their Houses, he proposed to give them his Bond to repair all the Dammage that the Rebells should do them; But the men said that they relied upon his word without any Bond.

Upon Mr. Grants marching his men Glenbucket retired from Strathaven into the low Country, and at Strathaven an Express sent by Lord Justice Clark (but who had been taken prisoner by Glenbucket and set at liberty on his retiring) came to him and brought him the news that the Duke was come to Aberdeen.[578] Mr. Grant thereupon directed his course thither, and when he came to Newe, three miles from the house of Forbes of Skellater one of the Rebells, finding himself out of Danger of any Great body of Rebells sent home his men to take care of their Cattle and houses, taking with him only 150 for an escort to Aberdeen, and ordered that all the men in the Country should be ready on the first call to come to Join him.

These 150 Mr. Grant marched to Kintore and left them there and March 1st went himself to attend His Royall Highness to Aberdeen; and remained there till the 9th that he was ordered to Inverury, where his men then[Pg 308] were, and from thence to proceed slowly to Strathspey, so as to serve as an advanced Guard to the Troops in their march to Strathbogg, and in that March before he reached Castle Forbes[579] had the Disagreeable news of a Ridiculous and Scandalous Treaty of Neutrality (as it was called) that five Gentlemen of his name had signed to the Rebells which he transmitted to Aberdeen to be communicated to his Royall Highness. As this was done in his Absence and was in his opinion the greatest affront that could have been done him, none living can look upon it with Greater Indignation than he does, notwithstanding of what all these gentlemen say to alleviate it, which is, That finding their country threatened to be Burnt, and no appearance of Immediate Relief, They consulted together on the properest measure to Divert their Ruin, and it was agreed on as the most prudent measure to endeavour to gain Time by treating with the Rebells untill the Army would come up, and for that end to send three of them as Deputys for the Rest, that when these three came to Inverness they were forthwith made prisoners and keept there upon their paroles, and the Rebells insisted that other two gentlemen should likewise come before concluding any Treaty. That by these means they got the matter Delayed for some Days, and when at last a written paper was presented to them to sign promising upon their Honours that neither they nor their Dependents should bear arms against them, They all absolutely refused to sign it, until they were Threatened to be thrown into Dungeons, and Lord George Murray with a party of Two Thousand men and some Cannon ordered to Strathspey to burn and Destroy the Country and then they signed it, believing that in the Strictest Honour, they could not be Bound to perform a promise Extorted from them in such circumstances. That it was Twelve days after their first confinement before this parole was signed and some time Before the dukes passing Spey.[580] Three[Pg 309] of the five were allowed to return home, and how soon Mr. Grant got home to Castle Grant, which was before the Battle of Culloden, These three joined him and were very active in bringing together the men.

This is a plain and genuine narrative of Mr. Grants conduct from the beginning of the late wicked Rebellion until he went to Aberdeen. The part he acted afterwards is already sufficiently known to His Royall Highness the Duke, and Mr. Grant wants not any other Justification, whereas the former part being acted in a corner of the Highlands could not be so generally Known.

The naked Facts are stated without any observations upon them, which will naturally enough arise to any Person into whose hands this may come. And no Facts are stated but such as are either sufficiently proved by the writings in the Appendix or can be proved beyond Contradiction and no part of another persons conduct mentioned except in so far as it was necessarly Connected with his.

And it is hoped it does appear that nothing was ommitted on Mr. Grants part that he could Devise for supporting the Government or Distressing the Rebells. He did not indeed know what were Lord Loudouns or Lord Presidents Instructions or powers, nor was it fit that he should know them; But by that means perhaps it was that sometimes he undertook Expeditions and projected scemes that these Gentlemen possibly, yea probably, for good Reasons Judged not to be expedient or seasonable, but however that may be an argument of his want of skill, or of his too great forwardness, but surely it can be none of his want of Zeal to his Most Gracious Sovereign and our present Happy Constitution.

[Pg 311]


[Pg 313]

THE CASE OF THE REV. JOHN GRANT, MINISTER OF URQUHART; AND OF ALEXANDER GRANT OF SHEUGLY IN URQUHART, AND JAMES GRANT, HIS SON


INFORMATION for Mr. JOHN GRANT, Minister of the Gospel at Urquhart

We hear that Mr. John Grant is charged wth reading and explaining to his Congregation and Parishioners in Irish the Pretenders Manifesto from the Pulpit and in other places. This is as false as the Charge is Malicious. I thank God for it I was never reckoned a Bedlamite or a madman, and truly if this Charge were well founded I think that all the Punishment that the Law can conflict [sic] is but to little. How soon ever I had certain information that the Pretenders son was landed I wrote a letter to Lochaber to Mr. John Stewart for intelligence as it was reported the Rebel Army was to besiege Fortaugustus[581] and Inverness. This I did in presence of the Laird of Grants Baillie. I gave a Copy of the return to my letter to the Baillie that he might let the Governor of Inverness and the Laird of Grant see it. The Baillie told me that the Governor own’d that piece of Intelligence to be of vast consequence to the North and that the Laird of Grant was likewise informed of it—the letter inform’d that they were to march directly south.

In Novr when the M‘Donalds and Frasers came to the country in order to raise the men I preach’d publickly agst it and exhorted my congregation to live peaceably.

This rais’d the Wrath of most of my Parishioners who were in the Rebellion agst me insomuch that I was daily insulted even by the meanest of the Parish particularly towards the close of Decr last I was after sermon attacted by above 20 men and threatned to be drowned in a Loch near by for my praying for his Majesty King George. I and some other gentlemen went to a woman in Distress.[Pg 314] Immediately there came into the House 2 fellows with drawn durks to kill me and were it not for some Gentlemen then present I wou’d have suffered for the stroak that was leveld at me cutt an Iron Crook. I was the object of the M‘Donald’s hatred because of my attachment to the present happy Establishment, in so much that in Feby last when the M‘Donalds to the number of 400 or 500 men came to the Country my house was attacked by 8 or 9 of them; they first rapp’d at the doors and windows and then they were to set fire to the house were it not that the Gentlemen with whom they lodged and whose house was close by mine hindered it for fear of his own house.

My wife spoke to them next day they swore that they wou’d knock me down with butts of their Guns because they’d scorn to give me a better death. My wife was so frighten’d that she sicken’d abhorted and was verie like to have lost her life being confined for 6 weeks to her Bed. I was then obliged to give up preaching. After I was for 2 Sabbaths without preaching my Parishioners cry’d out agst me for their wanting of sermon, then I ventured to preach and prayed for his Majesty King George. But the second Sunday I preached I was mobb’d in the Churchyard and had my Cloaths torn. A fellow who was for some time my officer and whom I turn’d off for his having gone to the North after the Rebels proclaimed publickly in the Churchyard that I should no more pray for King George and that I should have no stipend pay’d me this year, which last hold but to true for I did not receive 40s. of the last years stipends as yet. I was then a 2d time obliged to give up preaching as I had not the Protection of the Law. The Sunday immediately before the Battle of Culloden I was attacted by 4 of the Rebels and very rudely dealt by for my Praying for King George and for having given up preaching they swore that if I would not preach next Sunday and pray for the Pretenders son whom they call’d Prince Charles, They or some of their Corps would attend and shoot me thro’ the head. But blessed be God their power was[Pg 315] soon broken and I then preach’d and pray’d wthout distraction or fear. Towards the beginning of May when Mr. Grant of Grant had with his men left the country of Urquhart and gone to Inverness with the People of Glenmoriston and Urquhart who had surrendered Mr. John Grant was surpris’d to hear of Alexr Grant of Sheugly and his son’s confinement at Inverness. Mr. Grant of Grant wrote to his Bailie to acquaint me to repair to Inverness without loss of time as he had particular business with me in relation to the surrenderers in the Parish of Urquhart. Accordingly I went to Inverness without delay and waited of Mr. Grant, was by him keept for 6 or 7 days living still in the Town on my own Charges without any other business but giving the Characters of the Men who had surrendered in Urquhart. Mr. Grant likewise challeng’d me for asserting Alexr Grant of Sheugly and his son as peaceable subjects and told me that he would put me on my marrow bones for that sometime. After I answer’d Mr. Grant that I attested nothing but what I was conscious was truth; this Conference happen’d in Mr. Grant of Grant’s room on the 9th of May. Sunday thereafter, being the 11th of May, Mr. Grant of Grant sent a Gentleman of his name to my Quarters desiring that I shou’d repair to his Room immediately. I was not within in the meantime but how soon I got notice of it I immediately went to Grants Lodgings where I was made prisoner. I was surprised at this as I suffered in my Person and Means for my attachment to the Government. But upon Reflection my surprise soon evanish’d. I have been minister at Urquhart for near 6 years without legal Gleib, Manse or any of those advantages which the Law allows. I several times apply’d to Mr. Grant of Grant as Patron and principal Heritor in the Parish for redress either by giving me a piece of Land which my Predecessors allways had in farm by the Lairds of Grant or then by consenting to my having Legal Gleib and Manse as the Law directs I was put off with fair promises but no performance. I could not live with any comfort as I was situated, Mr. Grant having [Pg 316]settled a Brother-in-Law of his Bailie’s in the Kitching wch my Predecessors had and all the other houses of the Town excepting one brocken house. This neighbour I got was Bankrupt and his wife a notorious scold. Last year I wrote to Mr. Grant to grant me my conveniences for my own money otherwise to excuse me to ask for them in a legal manner. When Mr. Grant received this letter he rampaged, burnt my Letter, and swore revenge agst me; besides there is near two years stipends due me out of Mr. Grant’s Estate in Urquhart wch wth some mony he has of my Fathers per Bond and to wch I am expressly provided in the Bond makes a pretty good sum and as Mr. Grant likes money very well this is a verie easie Method of paying his debt and being revenged of me at the same time. As the above are all matters of fact I know no other reason for my suffering and confinement to the present Royal Family or that I might be of use to the Government in something which might be very disagreeable both to Mr. Grant and his Bailie.

(Signed) John Grantt.

Castle Street, Sixth July 1746.

Minute of the Presbytery of Abertarff

At Fort Augustus, 13th June 1746.

The Presbytry of Abertarph being met and Constitute It was represented that the Revd Mr. John Grant, minister of the Gospel at Urquhart, and member of this Judicatory, had been sometime ago laid under arrest on suspicion of being disaffected to the present happy establishment, and the Presbytery being deeply affected to think that any of their number should give the least umbrage to any mortal on that important subject took Mr. Grant’s past conduct with regard to Government under their most serious deliberation, and upon the whole find Cause to certify that (abstracting from the present Charge brought against him, to which they are entire Strangers, having no immediate Access to enquire into it by reason of the great disturbances here) he still behav’d himself among them as became a minister of the Gospel, discovering upon[Pg 317] every occasion his Inviolable Attachment and Loyalty to his Majesty’s person and Government. Given in name presence and at appointment of Presbytry, date and place forsaid by

Thom. Frazer, Modr.

Minute of the Presbytery of Abernethy

At Abernethy the 5th Day of July 1746.

The Presbytery of Abernethy, taking to their Consideration That the Reverend Mr. John Grant minister of the Gospel at Urquhart had been taken up and shipped off for London upon a Suspicion of treasonable practices during this wicked and unnaturall rebellion, Could not but in Justice to Mr. Grant’s Character Certifie of him as follows. First, That he was born in the Bounds of this Presbytery of Honest parents who professed the Protestant Religion according to the Principles of the Established Church of Scotland and he had his Education in this way. 2dly That as Mr. Grant very early in his younger years thought of applying himself to the Work of the Ministry he attended the Colleges of Philosophy and Divinity and brought from the several Professors sufficient Testimonials of his diligence and progress in his studies as well as of his morall Character so that this Presbytery had Encouragement to enter him upon Trials and upon finding him qualified Did Licence him to preach of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 3dly That, after he was licenced he continued in the Bounds of this Presbytery for the space of some years and both in his publick Discourses and private Conversation discovered the firmest attachment to His Majesty King George his Person and Government. And had the same Principles and views with respect to Government that all the Members of this Judicatory have particularly That the Security of our Religion and Liberty is inseperably connected with the stability of our Most Gracious Sovereign King George his Throne and the Succession of his Royall Line. And since Mr. Grant removed from our Bounds and was ordained Minister at Urquhart in the neighbouring Presbytery of Abertarph,[Pg 318] which will be about six years agoe he has continued in the strictest friendship and most intimate Correspondence with the most of our Members and still they found that neither his Principles nor practices were anyways Derogatory from what he had early imbibed, publickly owned, and all along practised while among them. And from the Report of some of our Members who have been in the Parish of Urquhart since Mr. Grant was carryed of It is notour and well known there that several Attacks were made on Mr. Grants Life during the Rebellion for his Attachment to the Government and his continuing in his duty to pray for His Majesty King George and the Royall Family.

At one time a Man who had the Rank of an Officer in the Rebellious Mob threatned on a Sabbath Day immediately after Divine Worship to seize him, carry him to a Loch in the neighbourhood, and Drown him there, and gott about thirty or fourty of the same Gang to Join in the Undertaking. At anoyr time two Ruffians broke into a Company where Mr. Grant was, attacked him with drawn Durks untill hindered by those who were present. Again on a Sabbath day immediatly as he came out from Sermon some of the Rebells Wives and others fell upon him, tore his Cloaths and abused him so that with great Difficulty he was rescued from them and gott into his own house. Another party of the same wicked Crew threatned publickly to burn his House and Family, when they got their opportunity. Therefore from our Knowledge of Mr. Grant’s Principles, our through Acquaintance of him, together with the Notouriety of thes facts with respect to his Usage by the Rebells, we cannot but hope that he is entirely innocent of any charge of Dissloyalty can be brought agst. him, and we are apt to presume that some invidious person or persons have given in an Information against him which tho’ false in fact may either kill him by Confinement as he is of a tender Constitution or ruin his circumstances by the Expense of such a Process, by either of qch they will sufficientlie gratifie yr malicious views. And we are fully satisfied that if there is the least[Pg 319] of misconduct chargeable on Mr. Grant it must have been entirely owing to Inadvertency and oversight and not the effect of Principle or Design. Given Day and Date above in name in presence and by appointment of the Presbytery of Abernethy, and signed by

Pat Grant, Modr.

The Examination of John Grant, minister of Urquhart near Inverness

Westminster

to Wit.

Being asked where he was at the time that the Rebellion first of all broke out, he saith, that he was at his own Parish at Urquhart aforesaid, where he continued from the Beginning to the end of the said Rebellion without stirring from thence to the distance of 10 miles. Being asked whether or no the Laird of Grant ever made him, the Examt, privy to any Intention which he the Lord of Grant had of raising his men for the Service of the Government, or ever sent for him to any consultation about what measures were proper to be taken by the Grants upon occasion of the Rebellion, he saith, that he was not either privy to the Intentions of the said Laird of Grant, or was he ever sent for to any place by the said Laird of Grant to give his advice or opinion what was proper to be done about raising the Grants: He Saith, he remembers that upon the breaking out of the Rebellion the Laird of Grants Baillie who was at Urqhart where the Examt also was told the Examt privately that the Laird of Grant was not determined, and would not determine what to do, till he saw how matters were likely to turn out or that effect and whoever should first attack his, the Laird of Grants country whether but in general it was       [sic]

[sic]       Rebels or the Kings Forces He the Laird of Grant wd raise his men against them.

was told to the People of Urqhart that it was the said Laird’s desire that the People should live peaceably. This[Pg 320] was upon the first appearance of the Rebellion when the Gentlemen in the Grant’s country sent to the Laird of Grant to desire his assistance and advice, as they were threatned with Fire and Sword by Lochiel, unless they would rise and join the Pretender’s Son, and he saith that the Baillie aforesaid told the Examt sometime afterwards privately the Laird would not be averse to some part of his Clan’s joining the Pretenders son Privately in order to save the Country. Being asked whether he was one of those who opposed the Laird of Grant’s accepting the Company which was first offer’d by the Lord President to the said Laird for raising the Grants for the Government, he saith he was not, nor was he privy to or advised with concerning the said company. He saith, that sometime in November last a Party of the MacDonalds and Fraziers came to Urqhart under the command of M‘Donald of Barrisdale and the Master of Lovat, the whole amounting to about 4 or 500 men: that M‘Donald and the Master of Lovat lodged at the Examts house two or three Days at that time, and the reason of which was, that the Examts wife was related to the Master of Lovat’s Family: that the Master of Lovat and another person of the name of Frazer applied to the Examt to be Chaplain to them, and promised to give him six and eight pence a day, if he would consent thereto, to which the Examt answer’d, that if they would go to Inverness to serve his Majesty King George, he would be their chaplain with all his heart for one third of the money that he reproached them for having taken up arms for a Popish Pretender, and shew’d them the consequences of such Behaviour. That the Master of Lovat said, he was acted upon, and as he was engaged so far, must go on still further: That, whether they applied to him to be chaplain in Joke or Earnest, he cannot say, tho’ he is well satisfied that they both knew the Examt to be in a very different way of thinking from them: that, neither of them used the Examt ill, or insulted him upon account of his being steady to the Government: but that some of their men quarrelled with the Examt on account of his having preached against the Rebellion, and dissuaded[Pg 321] them from it in the strongest terms he could use, and on account of his having prayed publickly in the Church for His Majesty, and told the Examt that it became him not to preach and pray in that manner. He saith, that during the time the said Party was at Urquhart, he made it his Business to declaim against the Rebellion, and whenever he heard of any People who had an Intention to join the Rebels, he went to them and used the most prevailing arguments he could to turn them from their Design: that MacDonald and the Master of Lovat having soon found that the Examt was determined not to engage with them, did not open themselves to him about their Intentions at all: that he several times was in Danger of his Life from MacDonalds upon account of the aversion he constantly express’d upon all occasions in public and private against their undertakings.

He saith, that after the said Party of the Macdonalds and Fraziers had quitted Urquhart, other Partys of the Rebels were continually passing and repassing thro’ the said County: that the Examt persevered in his Endeavours to dissuade them from their engagements, and was very often in Danger of his Life upon that account; that about the latter end of the Month of February last the General Rendezvous of the Rebel army was about a mile from his house, that there was a general cry thro’ all the said Army that the Examt was not to be tolerated in the daring manner in which he acted for the Government: that he received several notices that his House should be plunder’d and burnt unless he desisted: that his Life was also several times threatned; that the Highlanders publickly declared that he deserved no other kind of Death than to be beaten in Pieces with the Butt Ends of their Guns: and upon the 21st and 22d of February he expected nothing but Death from them.

Being asked, whether he received or conveyed any Letters to or from any Persons concerned in the Rebellion to or from any People concerned in the same, he saith, he never was directly or indirectly concerned in any thing of that sort, nor was he ever directly or indirectly the[Pg 322] Instrument of receiving or conveying any verbal messages to or from any of the Persons concerned in the said Rebellion to or from their accomplices.

Being asked, whether he ever willingly gave any Harbour or Protection or assistance of any kind whatever to the Rebels; he saith, he never did, on the contrary he saith, that he took all the methods he could to prevent their receiving any Party where had or could exert his Influence.

Being asked whether he was Privy to the Neutrality which was signed by some of the Grants for the Rest whilst the Duke was at Aberdeen, he saith, that he was not Privy to it in any shape nor any ways assisting or advising in it.

Being asked whether if the Laird of Grant had exerted himself to the utmost for the Government he might not have been of great service to it, He saith, that his opinion is that if the Laird of Grant had been so disposed he might have been of great service.

He saith, that he was informed by the Factor of the Earl of Stair, that Glenmorrison told him, the said Factor, that he Glenmorrison went out to assist the Pretender’s son with a Party of the Grants by the Laird of Grant’s advice.

He saith, that with relation to the 84 Grants, who surrendered at Inverness, they were indeed engaged to surrender before the Examt saw them, but he strengthened and confirmed them in their Resolution.

He saith, that he never assisted the Rebels in any shape whatever; never was privy to any of their Schemes or Plots: never served them in any manner; but on the contrary opposed them, preached against the Rebellion constantly, and constantly prayed for King George, to the daily hazard of his life for several months: that he was so well known and remarked for opposing them to the utmost, that he was the object of their Hatred, and that it is next to a miracle that he was not sacrificed to their Resentment.

John Grantt.

Whitehall, 14 Aug. 1746.

Taken before me, Thos. Waite.

[Pg 323]

Information for Alexander Grant of Sheugly and James Grant his son

As to the Case of Mr. Grant of Shewgly, It’s informed That he is impeached with a Correspondence wth the Pretenders Son. This is absolutely false in itself, as he never corresponded with him in word or write in his life, but upon the Pretenders son arrival in Arisake how soon he set up his Fathers Standart that he wrote circular letters to all the countrys in the Highlands desiring to assist and join him with all the men they could agains a preceese day, among which there was a letter sent to the Country of Urquhart directed for the sd Alexr Grant and the rest of the Gentlemen of Urquhart with one other to the Laird of Grant himself. The very next morning after receiving the letter they chapterly conveened in order to consider of the proper use to be made therof, and what was thought upon was: immediately to send that Letter with the other letter to Mr. Grant younger of Grant by the Baillie of Urquhart to make the legal use thereof as he thought proper; All this accordingly was done with that very breath and the Baillie went accordingly. This letter was keeped by Mr. Grant till such time as the said Alex Grant was made prisoner at Inverness and then gave it to the Duke of Cumberlands Secretary.

As also its informed that the said Alex Grant was assisting in sending men from the Country of Urquhart to join the Rebels. This is also false and injurious as it can be made plainly appear, that the sd Alexr Grant at three several times did turn back some of the Gentlemen of the Country wth a considerable body of men who marched bag and baggage under full arms six miles from their habitation, and that by the sd Alex Grants persuasion, tho the Country was very oft harased and threatened wth destruction, prevailed withal to stay at home till some time in February last that a Regiment of the Macdonalds came to the Country to force the men, or otherways under-go[Pg 324] utter destruction by burning the country and destroying their heal effects, which to prevent the most of the Gentlemen with three or four score men went alongs, and with all the persuasion in the said Alex Grants power could not get them prevailed upon to stay.

And further to testifie the sd Alexr Grant his sincere endeavours to assist the Government. Mr. Grant younger of Grant wth five or six hundred of his men having come to the Country of Urquhart some time after the Battle of Culloden, in order to get the Grants of Glenmoriston and Urquhart to surrender, Mr. Grant did put upon him the said Alex. Grant in the strongest manner to concur and assist to get his purpose effectual, which the sd Alex Grant accordingly went about and with a great deal of labour and fatigue both night and day got them at last convinced, and with great difficulty prevailed with them to surrender, providing they could be made sure of their lives, which Mr. Grant not only engaged by Vow and Oath but by a very binding Letter under his hands to Grant of Daldeagan, which letter is still extant to produce in the Duke of Cumberland’s hands. This seems no less than a paradox in itself considering that Mr. Grant gave out to the Duke of Cumberland that he and his men apprehended them in Rocks and Woods. The next day after their meeting the said Alex Grant with 84 men of the Grants of Glenmoriston and Urquhart came near Mr. Grants lodging there and surrendered prisoners upon terms and gave up their arms before Sir Alexander Macdonald and several other Gentlemen, and the next day thereafter Mr. Grant with his men marched directly to Inverness with the surrender. But the said Alex Grant, being in a bad state of health after the fatigue and strugle he had in this interpose, came to take leave of his young Chief and return home, but Mr. Grant told him that he would not part with him till he had got the Duke of Cumberland to thank him for his services, and that it was otherways necessary his going to Inverness, to give a character of the Men for their more speedy Relief, which accordingly he comply’d wth, and less than an hour after their arrival[Pg 325] at Inverness Mr. Grant sent for him to his own Lodging upon pretence of material business relating to this affair, and within two minutes after coming to him the said Mr. Lewis Grant told him that he was sorry to understand that he the said Alex Grant was to be made prisoner, which immediately was done and carried to the Comon Guard, Mr. Grant giving him the strongest assurance that he would be released the next morning. Its to be observed that if the said surrenders had been dismissed at Inverness according to Mr. Grants promise the whole Rebells then in arms in the Highlands of Scotland had surrendered in less than ten days, the Grants being the very first that did surrender.

As to James Grant his case what is laid to his Charge is still a mistery so that no particular answer can be made to it, but it can be always made appear that since the beginning of the Rebellion he stayed peaceably at home and after several attempts made upon him defied the Rebells request to move him any manner of way, and still continued so till Mr. Grant younger of Grant after the Battle of Culloden brought his Militia to Inverness, and having sent for a number of men to Urquhart to join him, the sd James Grant with sixty men directly march’d to Inverness, joined Mr. Grant and the rest of his men there, with whom he continued a Captain till such time as Mr. Grant returned from Urquhart to Inverness wth the surrenderers. The said James Grant was very assistful with his father to get the said number of men to surrender, wch Mr. Grant had never done but by their persuasion, immediately as they arrived at Inverness Mr. Grant employed the sd James Grant to make out a list of the number of men under his command in order to provide them Quarters, this being done was sent for, to come to his Lodgings, where he remained till his father came up, and with the same breath Mr. Grant told him he was to be made prisoner but not to be afraid, that tomorrow he would see him relieved, and so forth was carried with his father prisoner to the Comon Guard but never heard a word from Mr. Grant till this moment.

[Pg 326]

The said Alex Grant is informed that the said Mr. Lewis Grant has given as an article of accusasion agst him that some of his children had been sent by him the said Alex Grant to join and carry arms for the Pretender. The said Alex Grant owns so much of this Charge, that contrary to his inclination and frequent instruction his said Children (who were not staying with him) some of them did join the Rebell armie and the said Alex Grant offers to make it appear by Gentlemen of undoubted credit and firm attachment to the Government that he used all the interest he was master of both as a parent and a friend to the present Government to keep his children at home, and that from the time his children who so engaged had taken such resolution none of them durst ever appear in his presence. It is submitted whether or not the said Alex Grant could have done more to keep his children at home.

(Signed) Alexander Grantt.
James Grantt.

Castle Street, Sixth July 1746.

The Examination of James Grant of Sheugly, Esq.[582]

Westminster to Wit.

14th Aug. 1746.

Being asked where he was when the Rebellion in Scotland first broke out, he saith, that he was in his own County in the parish of Urquhart, where he continued from the beginning to the end of the Rebellion without going to any Place of any Distance from the said Parish of Urquhart. Being asked whether he was one of the Gentlemen consulted by the Laird of Grant upon the occasion of the Lord President’s offering a company to the said Laird for raising men for the Government which Gentlemen[Pg 327] refused to accept of the said one Company, he saith he was not, nor was he ever advised with or consulted thereupon: Nor did the Laird of Grant ever send to the Examinant or to his Father, who is lately dead, to come to him in order to advise and consult with them upon the measures to be taken upon that occasion: he saith, that the Laird of Grant’s Bailly upon the Rebellion first breaking out told the Grants publickly, that it was the Lairds desire that they should remain peaceable and quiet, but the said Bailie told this Examt and his father and two other Gentlemen of the name of Grant privately that it was the said Lairds desire that a Company of the Grants should join the Pretender’s son privately in order to protect the Country. He saith, that he was never sent for during the Rebellion by the said Laird of Grant upon any occasion to be advised with, or consulted with about it: that in the Progress of the Rebellion, several different parties of the Rebels came into that part of the Country, where the Examt was, and pressed him to take on with them, but that he constantly refused them, and would not have anything to do with them.

He saith, that he never was directly nor indirectly concerned in receiving or conveying of any letters or verbal messages to or from any Persons in the Rebellion to any persons whatever, nor did he willingly harbour, protect, or supply in any shape any of the aforesaid Persons, nor was he ever made privy to any designs or Intentions of the said Rebels.

He saith, that different Partys of the Rebels who passed thro’ the Country having threatened to use violence to some of the Grants unless they would join them, a Party of them with a Gentleman at their Head, went to Castle Grant to take the Directions of the Laird, and offer’d to go and join Lord Loudoun or any one else, if he would give them orders in writing for so doing: that the Laird of Grant told them, they might go and join the Devil if they would, and imprisoned the Gentleman who came along with them for two or three days for his officiousness.

He saith, that he made it his Business whenever he had[Pg 328] an opportunity, to dissuade those whom he could come at from engaging in the Rebellion, and exerted his utmost endeavours to convince them of the rashness of their undertaking.

Being asked whether he was privy to the Neutrality signed by some Gentlemen amongst the Grants, whilst the Rebels were at Aberdeen, He saith, he was not privy to it in any shape, nor doth he know who were the conductors of that Neutrality.

After the Battle of Culloden some of the Grants remaining in arms for the Pretender’s Son the Examt and his Father were sent to by the Laird of Grant (who had never sent to the Examt or his Father during the Rebellion before) to go to the said People and persuade them to surrender: He saith, that he and his Father accordingly went to the said men, and with the assistance of the Revd Mr. John Grant prevailed with them to surrender, and marched with them for that purpose to Inverness, where to his great surprise the Examt, His Father, and the said Revd Mr. Grant were made Prisoners with the aforesaid Rebels, and sent up hither for he does not know what.

He saith, that he verily believes that the ill-usage his Father met with, served in a great degree to shorten his father’s life. He saith, that all his and his Father’s Cattle were taken from them for some time for not joining the Rebels: that he never held any correspondences with the Rebels in any shape, nor ever was instrumental in serving them at all, and that if he behaved civilly to them whilst they remained in the Country where the Examt was it was out of Fear and not the effect of Inclination.

Being asked whether it be his opinion that if the Laird of Grant had wrote to the People in the Country to rise for the Government the said People would have taken up arms for the Government, he saith, that he verily believes if the laird of Grant had done so, the Country would have joined the Kings Troops, and done all the service in their Power, but this was neglected by the said Laird of Grant till the Battle [Pg 329]of Culloden was over, when the Examt joined the said Laird at his request with 50 or 60 men, being all who were capable of bearing arms in the Country, and that being the first and only Request which the Laird of Grant ever made to the Examt upon occasion of the Rebellion.

(Signed) James Grantt.

Whitehall, August 14, 1746.

Taken before me,

Thos. Waite.

To His Grace the Duke of Newcastle, one of his Majesty’s Principal Secretarys of State, the Petition of Alexander Grant of Shewgly, Esq., James Grant his son, and the Rev. Mr. John Grant, minister of the Gospel at Urquhart, prisoners in Tilbury fort.[583]

Humbly sheweth, that Lewis Grant of Grant, Esqr, son of Sir James Grant, Bart, having with his men, some days after the Battle of Culloden, joyned his Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland did by his Royal Highness’s Permission march with them to the Country of Urquhart near Inverness, to seize and bring in such Rebels as should be found in arms against the Government, That finding none he apply’d to your Petitioners who were then (as they had been ever since this unhappy rebellion) quiet and peaceable at their respective Homes entreating them as persons of Rank and Figure in that Country to use their best endeavours with such Rebels as might be still in Arms, to lay them down and surrender to the said Mr. Grant, with assurances that he would intercede with his Royal Highness in their behalf, and that after such surrender they should be permitted to return to their respective Places of Abode.

That your Petitioners were so successful as to prevail[Pg 330] upon 84 Rebels of the name of Grant to surrender themselves and their arms to the said Mr. Grant, which he then thankfully and gratefully acknowledged as an event that would entitle him to some merit in his Royal Highnesses eye, and desired your Petitioners to accompany him and the said Rebel prisoners to Inverness, which they did.

That your Petitioners to their own, as well as the Neighbourhoods great surprise, were upon their Arrival at Inverness represented as Rebels and corresponding with those in open arms and as prisoners taken by him, and upon such false Information confined by his Royal Highness and have since been sent up prisoners without the least ground or charge but the false Information given by the said Mr. Grant.

That your Petitioners tho’ conscious of their own Innocence, and free from any guilt, have upon the said false Information been sent from Inverness to England and have in the course of the voyage been in no shape distinguished from those in open Rebellion, that from the great Hardships they have suffer’d, one of your Petitioners Alexander Grant near 70 years old, and a creditor by Mortgage for large sums of money upon the said Mr. Lewis Grant’s Estate, has been seized with and still lies ill of a Malignant Fever, and being, by Reason of his close confinement deprived of any assistance, is in danger of losing his Life whereby the said Mr. Lewis Grant’s sordid ends would be answered should this Petitioner die while under so heavy a charge as that of Treason.

Your Petitioners therefore humbly pray your Grace to take this their very hard case into consideration and admit them to liberty upon reasonable Bail to answer such charges as shall be brought against them, or, at least, to change their present Confinement into a more comfortable one with Liberty to an Agent to repair to them at seasonable Times, the better to enable them to manifest their Innocence, and the Falsehood and Malice of the Charge against them, when called to an open trial.

And your Petitioners shall ever Pray

[Pg 331]

Letter from Sir Dudley Ryder,[584] Attorney-General and the Hon. William Murray, [585] Solicitor-General to the Secretary of State.

To His Grace the Duke of Newcastle

May it please your Grace,—In obedience to his Majesty’s Commands signified to us by your Grace in your Letter of the 18th instant with which your Grace sent us the inclosed Examinations of James Grant and John Grant brought up Prisoners on suspition of having joined with or been assisting to the Rebells in Scotland and who are now in custody of a Messenger, together with several Petitions, Certificates and other Papers herewith also inclosed; and directing us to take the said papers into Consideration, and Report our Opinion what proceedings may be proper thereupon.

We have considered the same, and as some of the Papers mention the name of Ludovick Grant, Esqr, the Laird of Grant, as the person by whose means they were seized and Imprisoned, he being in Town, we thought it proper to give him notice of our Meeting to take the Papers into consideration. He was pleased to attend us[Pg 332] and laid several matters of a Treasonable nature to their Charge. But as all those matters came to the knowledge of Mr. Ludovick Grant by Information from others only; and none of them fell within his own personal knowledge, and as it is a considerable time since the Prisoners have applied to be discharged; and no Information has yet been given against either of them upon oath; and neither Mr. Sharpe,[586] of whom we have inquired, nor Mr. Ludovick Grant know of any witnesses now here who can charge them upon oath; and the Prisoners are not yet committed either for Treason or suspition of Treason, and most of the things objected to them are only triable in Scotland. We beg leave humbly to submit it as our Opinion, that it may be advisable to admit them to Bail for their Appearance, before the Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh, at the first sitting of the said Court, after the first of December next, there to answer such things as may be then laid to their charge; when there Will be an opportunity of Committing and trying them in case evidence shall appear sufficient for that purpose. We proposed to Mr. Ludovick Grant, the only person who has appeared before us as their Accuser that they should be Bailed for their appearance at Edinburgh, and he has told us that he has no objection to it but thought it might be proper.

All which is most humbly submitted to your Grace’s Consideration.

(Signed) D. Ryder.
W. Murray.

29th August 1746.

[Pg 333]


[Pg 335]

A NARRATIVE OF SUNDRY SERVICES PERFORMED, TOGETHER WITH AN ACCOUNT OF MONEY DISPOSED IN THE SERVICE OF GOVERNMENT DURING THE LATE REBELLION BY WALTER GROSSETT

To the Right Honourable Lord Commissioners of His Majesty’s Treasury, The MEMORIAL of WALTER GROSSETT, Esqr.

Humbly sheweth

That as your Lordships have been pleased to appoint the Report of Sr Everard Fawkener and Mr. Sharpe,[587] relating to the account of your Memorialist Services to the Government during the late Rebellion, to be read to-morrow, he humbly begs leave to refer thereto and to observe:—

That the Account above mentioned is Certify’d by the Lord Justice Clerk and all the Generals who Commanded in Scotland; and as several of the Services therein set forth were performed, by verbal as well as by written Orders he had the honour to receive from His Royal Highness the Duke while in Scotland, it was by his Royal Highness’s Directions that the said Account was above three years ago laid before your Lordships by Sr Everard Fawkener, and that the Report relating thereto is now signed by him.

That your Memorialist has not in that or any other Account charged anything for his Trouble or Loss of Time for upwards of four years, he has been employed in the Service of the Government as aforesaid and finding out and collecting the Evidences for the Crown against the Rebells assisting in carrying on the Prosecutions against them at London, York, and Carlisle, attending the Tryal of Provost Stuart at Edinburgh, finding Bills in Scotland against those who were excepted out of the Act of Indemnity and other Services.

That before the Rebellion your Memorialist as an officer[Pg 336] of the Revenue rendered greater service thereto than ever was done by any officer thereof in Scotland.

That your Memorialists share of the Profits arising from the Condemnation of prohibited and uncustomed Goods seized by him the three years immediately preceding the Rebellion amounted to above £4000 and the Crowns to above double that sum; that the remarkable Part reacted for the Service of the Government, from the first Breaking out of the Rebellion, made the Rebells lay hold upon everything that belonged to him and amongst other Things upon the greatest part of the Goods so condemned as aforesaid, and by which he was (exclusive of his other losses by the Rebellion) a most considerable sufferer.

That more Goods have been run in Scotland since the Rebellion than ever was done before in that Country in the same space of time.

That your Memorialist had several Informations relating thereto, but could not Profit thereby, by reason of the manner in which he has these four years past been employed, in the more Important Services to the Government before mentioned.

That few would have undertaken these services by reason of the apparent Hazard and other fatal Consequences, with which they were likely to be attended, and which he has in many Instances felt.

That your Memorialists wife who died of the Cruel usage she met with from the Rebells, certfy’d as above, has left him four Children to provide for.

That your Memorialists younger brother Captain Grosset who was barbarously murdered by the Rebells,[588] and whose remarkable services during the Rebellion are[Pg 337] well known to all the Generals who commanded in Scotland, as well as to his Royal Highness the Duke, has left a widow and five children to whose support your Memorialist is obliged to contribute.

That the Insults and insufferable ill usage which they as well as his own Children daily met with in Scotland, has obliged him to bring them all to England, and who are thereby in effect banished their Country for their Father’s faithful Services to the Government.

That the Expenses your Memorialist has been and is thereby put to, and by false and scandalous Libells and groundless and vexatious Lawsuits, on account of the Services before mentioned, not only far exceeds the one half of the Profits of the Commission in which he is joined with Sir John Shaw[589] (and which is the only mark of favour he has met with for his services, losses, and sufferings as aforesaid) but of his estate which is considerably lessened thereby and his other Losses by the Rebellion.

Upon the whole if your Memorialist is turned out of the Employment above mentioned, before he is other wise suitably provided for, it will in place of rewarding the important services certified as above, be punishing him in the severest manner Especially as by the wording of the Warrant by which he is to be turned out of that Commission (if that Warrant is allowed to take place) your Memorialist must unjustly be recorded as one unworthy to be continued in that Employment, which is doing all that can be done to ruin him and his Family, and must be attended with worse consequences to them, than if the Rebells had succeeded in the many attempts they made to deprive him of his Life, as they did in taking away his Brothers; or if he had suffered along with the[Pg 338] Rebell Peers and others, who could not have been condemned if it had not been for the Evidences he procured against them; Many of whose families and even those who were most active in the Rebellion, enjoy at this Time more of their Estates and Fortunes than he does of his, in proportion to the respective amounts thereof, before the Rebellion, and are themselves caressed and esteemed, whilst your Memorialist and his Family, and that of his unfortunate Brother, are daily harassed, affronted and cruelly persecuted by the Influence of that Party without being Protected, supported, or properly Countenanced by that Government to whom we rendered so many real services, and on which account we are so great sufferers.

All which is humbly submitted, etc., etc.

[Endorsed.—Mr. Grossetts Memorial relating to the Report of S^r Everard Fawkener and Mr. Sharpe upon the account of his Services to the Government.]

Note.—In the Record Office there are two documents, one entitled, ‘A NARRATIVE of Sundry Services performed by Walter Grossett, Esqr., during the course of the Rebellion, etc.’ which is countersigned as true by the Earl of Home and Generals Hawley, Handasyde, Guest, and Cope. The other is entitled ‘An ACCOUNT of Money,’ etc., and is certified by Andrew Fletcher, Lord Justice-Clerk. The Narrative’ is repeated in the ‘Account’ with only slight variations, so that there is no necessity to print both documents, and the ‘Account’ only is given here. Passages which appear in the ‘Narrative’ but have been omitted in the ‘Account’ are replaced here within square brackets.


[Pg 339]

An ACCOUNT of Money disposed by WALTER GROSETT, Esqr., in the Service of the Government during the late Rebellion, upon Particular Occasions and by Directions hereafter mentioned.

The Rebells upon their arrival at Perth, having formed a Scheme of surprizing the Town of Edingburgh by crossing the River Forth in Boats and Vessells as they had done in the year 1715: Mr. Grosett as a Justice of the Peace, did by direction of the Lord Advocate[590] of the 3rd and 9th September 1745 with the assistance of the Constables and Tide Surveyors, Kings Boats and Crews stationed at Dunbar, Kirkaldy, Leith, Queens Ferry, Borrostouness and Alloa, who by order of the Board of Customs were put under Mr. Grosett’s Directions, Remove all Ships, Boats and vessells from the North side of the Forth to the Harbours of Dunbar, Leith, Queen’s Ferry, and Borrostouness, on the south side of the said River [in so effectual a manner that the Rebells after various attempts, finding themselves disappointed in their Designs were obliged to march their army from Perth round the Heads of the Forth and cross that River at a Ford some Miles above Stirling which gave time to the Kings Troops under Sir John Cope to return from Inverness to the Relief of Edinburgh, had not that Town been shamefully given up to the Rebells.]

£ s. d.
No. 1
Expended on this Service to the Crews of the King’s Boats and others who were employed Night and Day therein for ten Days and for Intelligence of the Motions of the Rebells and other Expences
29 10 0

[Pg 340] The Rebells having upon the 13th of Septemr. crossed the Forth at a Ford some miles above Sterling; Mr. Grosett by Direction of Lord Justice Clarke removed the Ships and Vessells from the Harbours of Borristounness and Queen’s Ferry, on the south side of the River, to prevent the Cannon, Arms and Amunition on Board of these Sloops and Vessells from falling into the hands of the Rebells to prevent their having any communication with the North side of the River Forth otherwise than by going round the Way they came, and which Mr. Grosett did, though the Rebells had at this time by an advance party taken Possession of the Town of Borristouness, about 12 miles to the West of Edinburgh; Upon Mr. Grosett’s return to Edinburgh, upon Sunday the 15th in the Evening he found General Fowke,[591] who was just arrived from England with Lord Justice Clarke, together with General Guest, and who approved of what Mr. Grosett had done, and sent him with Orders to Colonel Gardiner, to remain that Night with the Troops at Coltbridge, about a Mile to the West of the Town.

No. 2
Expended in this service
7 12 0

[Pg 341] Upon the 16th of September Mr. Grosett was sent out twice in the morning to get Intelligence of the Motions of the Rebells, and to let General Fowkes, who was then posted at Coltbridge, know their Motions, and the last Account he brought was that the Rebells had lain down upon their Arms, about Twelve that Day near Kirklisten, about 6 Miles to the West of Edinburgh, that the Dragoons having soon after this upon the motion of the Rebells towards them quit their Post at Coltbridge and retired in some haste by the North side of the Town about 3 that afternoon, without sending the Party of Dragoons into the Town as had been conserted in the morning of that Day, and Lord Justice Clarke observing that this might give a Handle for justifying the Provest to give up the Town to the Rebells, he sent Mr. Grosett to the Provest, to press the Defence of the Town, and to assure him, that as many of the Dragoons as he pleased to desire should forthwith be sent in, to assist in the Defence thereof, till Sir John Cope, who was then hourly expected by sea from Aberdeen, should come with the Troops to their Relief. But the Provost, declining to defend the Town upon Pretence of the Uncertainty of Sir John Cope’s coming in time to their Assistance, Mr. Grosett returned and acquainted Lord Chief Justice Clarke thereof; and as by this time an Express was arrived from Dunbar with Letters for Lord Justice Clarke, giving an Account of the Arrival of the Troops under Sir John Cope[Pg 342] off Dunbar; Mr. Grosett was the only Person who would undertake to go back into the Town with these Letters; but not being able to prevail with the Provost to agree to the Defence thereof, he left it about One in the Morning, and brought Lord Justice Clarke an Account of what had past [narrowly escaped falling into the Hands of the Rebells, who by 5 in the Morning were in full Possession of the Town, the Gates having been opened to them; But the Particulars of Mr. Grosetts Transactions, and the Provosts Behaviour at this Juncture, will more fully appear from a Narrative relating thereto, formerly delivered by Mr. Grosett to His Grace the Duke of Newcastle.[592]]

No. 3

Expended and Lost in this Service, Mr. Grosett in his speedy Return to Edinburgh having lost both his Hatt and Wig and killed one of his Horses

16 17 0
Sept. 1745

Mr. Grosett having retired with Lord Justice Clarke to Dunbar, and his Lordship having upon the 18th Septemr. received Information that the young Pretender was to be that Night with some of the Chiefs of his Party at the Dutchess of Gordon’s house,[593] about 7 miles to the South-East of Edinburgh on their Road to England, and that the First Column of the Rebell Army was to march that way, Mr. Grosett was sent by [Pg 343] Lord Justice Clarke with proper Guides and Assistants in the Night to reconnoitre and send certain Intelligence of their Motions and number; But receiving Information near the Dutchess of Gordon’s House, that they had changed their Resolution he returned and acquainted Lord Justice Clarke thereof; From this time to the Battle of Preston, Mr. Grosett was employed in reconnoitering and procuring Intelligence of the Motions and Designs of the Rebells [narrowly escaped being killed the Night before the Battle, by a Party of the Rebells who lay in ambuscade in a Thicket of Wood on the side of a hollow way, Mr. Grosett had to pass through in going by the Directions of Sir John Cope to observe their motions and numbers, as they were drawing up in front of our army from whence they fired close upon him, as he went along, and from which Place they were drove by our Cañon after Mr. Grosett’s return with an Account of their Situation]; and the Day of the Battle he Lost a Horse and all his Baggage, the servant who had charge thereof being made Prisoner by the Rebells.

No. 4
Expended and lost in this Service
33 6 0
Sept. and Oct. 1745

After the Battle of Preston Mr. Grosett went from place to place to receive Information and Intelligence of the Motions and Proceedings of the Rebells and so soon as he heard of General Handasyde’s commanding at Berwick sent his brother Captain Grosett, who was Aid-de-Camp to the General, the[Pg 344] Intelligence he from time to time procured of the Motions, and Designs of the Rebells, and amongst other services brought Prisoner to Edinburgh Castle with the assistance of Mr. Brown and some Farmers, Spalding of Whitefield[594] one of the Chiefs of the Rebells, with Two others, who were secured as they were returning, thro’ the West of Scotland from the Rebell Army near Carlisle to the North, in order to bring up about 3000 men more from that Country, and for which purpose he had written Orders from Mr. Murray, the young Pretenders Secretary, Duke of Perth, Lord George Murray, and others of the Rebell chiefs: As also the particular Route they were to take with these men until they should join the Rebell Army, who were to halt for them at Carlisle. All which Orders, Route and other Letters and Papers found upon Whitefield and his servant were delivered over with them to General Guest, then in the Castle of Edinburgh.

No. 5
Expended in this Service
24 8 0
Nov.

Upon the 13th Novemr. Mr. Grosett met Lord Justice Clarke at Musselburrow, and[Pg 345] returned with his Lordship to Edinburgh,[595] and the Day after General Handasyde[596] arrived there with two Regiments of Foot and the Remains of Hamilton’s and Gardiner’s Dragoons; That the Castle of Edinburgh being at this time in great want of Provisions of all sorts Mr. Grosett by order of General Handasyde of the 16th Novemr. procured and laid in a sufficient supply thereof not only for the Garrison but for the Troops, that should be employd in the Defence of the Town.

No. 6
Expended in this Service
5 11 0

About this time the Rebells at Perth who were about 3000 in number being reinforced by the Landing of Troops in the North, with Cannon and Stores from France; Therefore in order to prevent the Kings Troops from being surprized, and the Town of Edinburgh falling again into the hands of the Rebells, [Pg 346] Mr. Grosett by Direction of Lord Justice Clarke, and Orders from General Handasyde of the 26th and 27th November 1745,[597] went with proper Assistance and removed all the Boats and Vessells that were at that time to be found at the different Ports and Creeks on the Northside of the River Forth, between Kinghorn and Aloa, to the Southside thereof.

No. 7
Expended in this Service
11 10 0

[Mr. Grosett at this time recovered seized Goods to the value of £1800 which the Rebells had carry’d off from the Kings Warehouse at Leith, and in which he was greatly assisted by Genl. Handasyde.]

When the Rebells came to Edinburgh there were of seized and condemned Goods, in the King’s Warehouse at Leith, to the Value of about Ten Thousand Pounds, and as these Goods were all carry’d off by the assistance of the Rebells, and Mr. Legrand Collector at Leith having upon their approach left Scotland, Mr. Grosett at this time saved no Labour or Expense to get Information by whom these Goods had been carried off, and where lodged, found out and secured with the assistance of a Company of the Military which he procured from General Handasyde, as many of these Goods as were sold for about £1500 and procured Information of the Names of the Persons who with the assistance of the Rebells carried these and the greatest part of the other Goods from [Pg 347] the Kings Warehouse, and who are now under Prosecution for that offence, as well as for the value of the Goods, that Mr. Grosett did not recover.

No. 8
Expended in this Service
68 14 0
Dec. 1745

That after the Removal of the Boats and Vessells as above others having arrived, and some of those that had been removed gone back, and that it was found absolutely necessary for the Service, that all Boats, Ships, and Vessells whatsoever on the North Coast betwixt Kinghorn and St. Andrews down the River as well as those formerly ordered to be removed betwixt Kinghorn and Alloa up the River should be removed to prevent the Rebells from getting across with their Cannon, and as this cou’d not be done without the assistance of some Ship of Force to secure a Retreat in case of being surprized by the Rebells who were in possession of that Part of the Country; and as the Captain of the Milford Man of War was ordered to concert proper measures with and assist Mr. Grosett therein; Mr. Grosett by Order of Lord Justice Clarke and General Guest the 8th Decemr. 1745 went with the Custom House Boats and other proper Assistance and performed what was required above.

No. 9
Expended in this Service for Intelligence
6 10 0
Dec. 1745

Mr. Grosett by Warrant of Lord Justice Clarke and General Guest[598] of the 16th Decemr. 1745 removed with the Assistance of the[Pg 348] Kings Boats and Happy Janet armed Vessell, all the Boats and Vessells at the Creeks on the South side of the Forth betwixt Borristouness and Sterling to the Harbour of Borristouness to prevent their being forced from these Places by the Rebells. As also from Alloa a Quantity of large Loggs of Wood and long Planks to prevent the Rebells making Floats thereof to cross with their Cannon at Alloa, with which they proposed to attack Sterling Castle.

No. 10
Expended in this Service
22 9 0
Dec. 1745

Lord Justice Clarke having received Intelligence that the Rebells from the North were to force their Passage across the River Forth at Haigens and Carsy Nooks in flat bottomed Boats they were bringing over Land from the Water of Earn, to prevent which Mr. Grosett by Directions of his Lordship the 19th Decemr. 1745[599] went and got that Part of Sterling Shire which lies next to the River put in arms to defend the Banks thereof, and by Order of General Guest of the same Date engaged and stationed the Pretty Janet armed Vessell with proper Hands, which he procured at Borristouness to defend the Passage at Haigen’s Nook and the Jean armed Sloop that at Carsey Nook which effectually prevented the Designs of the Rebells at this Juncture.

No. 11
Expended in this Service
17 4 0
Dec. 1745

To prevent the Rebells, upon their crossing the River Esk in their Return from England [Pg 349] into Scotland, having it in their Power to secure a ready communication between them and their friends in the North, and to get from thence the Cannon and other Military Stores that had been landed there by the French; Mr. Grosett by order of Lord Justice Clarke and General Guest of the 21st December 1745[600] was directed instantly to remove all Vessells and Boats of whatever Size out of the Harbours of Borristouness, Queens Ferry or any where else upon the South Coast of the Forth to such Places as he should think most proper for his Majesty’s Service at so critical a juncture and who accordingly removed all Boats and Vessells whatever that could be floated [to the Roads of Queens Ferry and Borristouness under the command of the armed vessells lying there, which effectually frustrated the Designs of the Rebells.]

Expended in this Service 8 6 0

Expended in forwarding from Borristouness Powder, Ball, Grape Shot, and other ammunition sent thither from the Castle of Edinburgh for the use of the Castle of Sterling: Pretty Janet armed Vessell stationed at Haigens Nook and the Jean armed Sloop at Carsy Nook to prevent the Rebells crossing at these Ferries by order of General Guest of 22nd Decemr 1745[601]

3 12 0

Upon the Return of the Rebells from England to Scotland Orders being given to the two Regiments of Foot Prices and Ligoniers, [Pg 350] and to the Glasgow Regiment and three Paisly Companies,[602] to march from Sterling to Edinburgh for the Defence of that Place, Intelligence being then received that the Rebells were at Moffat, in their Road to Edinburgh which City was at this time (by the Retreat of the two Regiments of Dragoons from thence to Haddington in their way to Berwick) left without any other Force but the Edinburgh Regiment[603] and as it was probable, that the Rebells might in this situation attempt to intercept the Troops in their March from Sterling to Edinburgh; Mr. Grosett was Dispatched, with Orders from Lord Justice Clarke and General Guest[604] for hireing and pressing a number of Boats and Ships, for embarking if necessary the Troops at Borristouness, at which place they were expected from Sterling that night; that Provisions should be laid in for Berwick but that they should stop at Leith Road for Orders. Mr. Grosett having agreeable to these Directions saved no Expense and Labour in a service of so much Importance [Pg 351] had Ships and Boats at Borristouness for embarking and transporting the Troops by the time they came there which was about Twelve at Night. By these means the Troops and the Glasgow and Paisly Militia, about a Thousand in Number, who unable to continue their march being embarked at Borristouness with the Baggage belonging to the whole. They arrived on the morning of the 24th Decemr. in the Road of Leith much about the Time that the other Troops, who were forwarded by Horses from Linlithgow, arrived at Edinburgh; and who upon their Arrival at Leith were ordered to disembark there, and by that Means and the Number of Volunteers One Thousand and upwards whom Lord Justice Clarke got to take up Arms in the Neighbourhood of Edinburgh, and march immediately into the Town. The Rebells being deterred from coming forward to Edinburgh took the Road to Glasgow, where they arrived the 25th Decemr. 1745.

To forward this Service Mr. Grosett got from General Guest 100 gunners and expended therein 74 8 0

To Charges sending from Borrostownness and destroying two Boats by Order of Lord Home 23d Decemr. 1745[605] which the Friends of the Rebells had got privately concealed, and made use of for carrying Intelligence, and Dispatches to and from their friends on the opposite side of the Forth the one at Newton Pow and the other at Carron Water

2 16 0
[Pg 352]
Dec. 1745

The Castle of Edinburgh being at this time crowded with a great Number of Prisoners, and particularly with those taken by Captain Hanway of the Milford Man of War, near Montrose, on Board the Lewis a French Transport from Dunkirk;[606] and as the keeping them there was looked upon to be at this time dangerous Mr. Grosett by Order of Lord Justice Clarke and General Guest hired to Transports and shipt off these with other Prisoners at Leith for Berwick the 26th Decemr. 1745 with a Company of Foot on Board each Transport as a Guard.

No. 16
Expended in this Service
6 4 0
Jan. 7, 1745-6

Lord Justice Clarke having received Intelligence that the Rebells at Glasgow, being reinforced by their Friends from the North were preparing to March from that to attack Edinburgh Mr. Grosett was thereupon sent with a Warrant from his Lordship and from General Guest of the 1st Janry.[607] to take and bring from Borristowness or from on Board the Shipping lying in the Road of that Place all the Cannon he could meet with to be placed upon the Walls of the City of Edinburgh for the Defence thereof. The Rebells upon their going into England, having carried off or destroyed all the Cannon that were formerly placed there for that purpose: Mr. [Pg 353] Grosett went accordingly and provided them, and brought them in a vessell to Leith; But the Troops under General Hawley[608] arriving by this time at Edinburgh, it was then not thought necessary to bring them to that Place.

No. 17
Expended in this Service
12 13 0
Jan. 1745-6

Lord Justice Clarke having received certain Intelligence,[609] that the Rebells were erecting considerable Magazines at Alloa and that they proposed bringing their Cannon to that Place, as the most convenient for getting them across the River Forth, in order to their laying siege to Sterling Castle; His Lordship acquainted Generals Hawley and Husk thereof and Scheme was thereupon formed for getting Possession of their Cannon or at least retarding their getting them across the River, till the General should be ready to march with the Army to the Relief of Sterling; In Order thereto two Sloops of War were sent up the River, and Transports got ready by Mr. Grosett, to take on Board Troops at Leith, [where a Regiment lay ready to be embarked upon an hours warning]. Matters having been thus prepared, and Lord Justice Clarke having [Pg 354] saved no expence in procuring Intelligence had twice a day at least certain Accounts from Alloa and other Places in that Neighbourhood giving the whole Proceedings of the Rebells and having early in the Morning upon the 8th of Janry. ‘received sure Information that Lord John Drummond and Lord George Murray with the whole of the Cannon, with which the Rebells proposed to attack Sterling Castle were to be that Night at Alloa escorted only by about 200[610] of the Rebells they being under no apprehensions of meeting with any Disturbance on that side of the River, the Bridge of Sterling being Cut and the Rebell Army betwixt them and the Kings Troops; His Lordship and General Husk came thereupon to Leith and got 300 of the Troops that lay there immediately embarked on this Expedition to be commanded by Colonel Leighton,[611] and conducted by Mr. Grosett. As the Rebells at Alloa could have no Intelligence of their Designs, the Passage across the Forth, being for some time before this stopt everywhere, and as the Wind when they sailed proved favourable they thought themselves sure of surprizing the Rebells that Night at Alloa. But as by the time they had got one third of the way thither, the Wind turned flat against them it was one o’clock next Day before they got to Hegins Nook three Miles below Alloa and where they were [Pg 355] stopt from proceeding farther by the Ebbing of the Tide. Upon their Arrival there Mr. Grosett having received Intelligence from Alloa that the Rebells were shipping their cannon on Board of a Vessell, with a Design to proceed in the Night, and to land them on the opposite side of the River about two Miles above that Place so soon as the Tide would admitt of the Vessell’s floating and Sailing from that Harbour; and as Mr. Grosett was perfectly well acquainted with the River and every Corner of the Country, to prevent this, Fifty Soldiers and as many armed Sailors were put on board one large and two smaller Boats with orders to pass privately in the Night to the Rebells Batteries at Elphinstone and Alloa and lye at a Place appointed about a mile above Alloa, where the Vessell with the Cannon was to pass, and where they could not be observed, either from Alloa, or even from the Vessells on Board of which they had shipped their Cannon ’till they were just upon them, by reason of the windings and Turnings of that River and as Mr. Grosett had procured proper Pilots for that purpose, they got to the Place appointed, without being observed either from Elphingstone or from Alloa; and as the same Flood Tide and Depth of Water, that would have carry’d the Vessell with the Cannon from Alloa could have carried the Sloops of War there, they could not in this situation have failed, in securing the Vessell and Cannon: But the Commander of the largest Boat, [Pg 356] being seized with an unreasonable Pannick, could not be prevailed with to stay at the place appointed tho’ there was much less Danger in remaining there than in returning: For as in their Return they alarmed the Rebells at Alloa by one of the Boats taking the Ground near that Place, they had a continued Fire to get thro’ as they past Alloa and Elphingstone Batteries; But Mr. Grosett having by order of Lord Justice Clarke taken 200 Matts of Flax from on Board a Dutch ship in the Road of Leith,[612] and placed these along the sides of the Boats there was only one man killed and another wounded on this Expedition, and which answered the end so far as to keep the Vessell from Sailing, and the Rebells from getting their Cannon at this time across the River, as they had projected; Mr. Grosett receiving at this Juncture Information from Alloa that the Rebells there were not even at this time above 200 strong: they upon the Return of the Boats landed the Troops at Kincairdin about three miles below Alloa, with a Design to attack them by Land. But Mr. Grosett being soon after acquainted by different Expresses from Alloa that the Rebells had just received a Reinforcement of 300 men they returned and reimbarked the Troops without any Loss. That Day the Vessell with the Cannon sailed from Alloa; But Mr. Grosett having fallen upon a method to get one of the Sailors who knew the River, and whom they had forced out to assist in the conducting of this[Pg 357] Vessell persuaded to run her on Ground on some of the Banks in her Passage up the River; Upon receiving Information that the Vessell was accordingly grounded, and that the Rebells had thereupon dismounted their Battery at Alloa, and were transporting all the Cannon they had there by Land two miles above Alloa in order to cross them there. It was thereupon resolved to attack their Battery at Elphingstone, and after silencing the Cannon there to proceed with small Vessells and Boats, and set Fire to the Vessell that lay a Ground, with the Cannon and other Military Stores: The Battery at Elphingstone was accordingly attacked with great Resolution and Bravery by the Captains of the Vulture and Pearl Sloops of War, assisted by the Pretty Janet armed Vessell and Jean armed sloop: And after about three hours close cannonading within less than Musquet Shot of the Battery, all their Cannon but one were silenced: But the Pearl having her cable cut asunder by a Cannon ball, she was forced from her Station by the strength of the Ebb-Tide, and the Two Pilots of the Vulture (one of them a Shipmaster at Elphinstone who at Mr Grosett’s Request came to his assistance in this Expedition) having each of them at this Time Lost a leg by another Cannon ball, and by which Accident they both Dyed; They were obliged to quit the Battery; This attack however so far answered the End as to prevent the Rebells from crossing with their Cannon; For upon making this [Pg 358] Attack they brought back their Cannon to Alloa, and placed them upon the Battery, there to prevent the Kings Ships and Troops from procedeing farther up the River, and getting Possession of the Vessell that lay aground above that Place with the Cannon and Ammunition. In this whole affair Two men were killed, Two lost a leg each by which they died and one an Arm by the Cannon from the Batteries, Ten others were wounded, but not disabled; the Chief Engineer and several others of the Rebells were killed and many wounded. Mr. Grosett having on the 11th January received a letter from Lord Justice Clarke with an Order inclosed from General Hawley to Colonel Layton to return with the Troops to join the Army who were then ready to march to the Relief of Sterling Castle, they thereupon returned accordingly; But Mr. Grosett having before he left that country concerted Measures for getting the Vessell burnt that was grounded as above in which the Cannon had been transported from Alloa it was done accordingly without the Rebells knowing how it came about.

Lord Justice Clarke in his letter, dated the 10th Janry. 1745/6,[613] having sent Mr. Grosett a Letter from General Hawley to General Blackeney[614] who at that time commanded [Pg 359] in the Castle of Sterling with Directions to use all methods possible to get it delivered and answered, as on it depended Matters of the greatest Consequence; Mr. Grosett not only got the Letter safely delivered, but an answer thereto, tho’ the Rebells were at that time in Possession of Sterling and suffered none they could observe to go near the Castle and upon which they kept the strictest Guard.

No. 18
Expended in all these Services, for Provisions, Intelligence, Boats, Pilots, etc.
39 4 0

Upon the 12th January 1745/6 Mr. Grosett returned to Edinburgh from this Expedition, and upon the 13th was sent early next morning by Lord Justice Clarke to procure Intelligence of the motions of the Rebells for General Husk, who was that Day to march with the First Division of the Army from Edinburgh for Linlithgow;[615] Upon Mr. Grosett’s coming near that place, being informed by some Country People he had sent into the Town, for Intelligence that [Pg 360] about Twelve hundred of the Rebells had that Morning taken Possession thereof and given out that they were resolved to dispute their Quarters with the Kings Troops. Mr. Grosett returned and acquainted the General thereof who thereupon made the proper Dispositions. The Town of Linlithgow lying in a Hollow upon the South side of a large Lake which cuts off all Communication with or access to the Town from the North and Mr. Grosett having acquainted the General of this and of the situation of the country The General in order to surprize and cut off the retreat of the Rebells to Falkirk where the Main body of their Army lay sent a strong advance Party forward with orders to halt, and remain upon a rising Ground upon the Road about a mile from the East Gate of the Town, and within Sight thereof, and marched the Main Body round another way; which Mr. Grosett conducted them by the South side of the Town where they could not be observed by the Rebells, till they came near the West Gate thereof; and the Rebells having no suspicion of the Main Body’s advancing upon them, while the Advance Guard stood still in sight, their communication with the Main Body of their Army, would by these means have been cut off, if one of their Friends upon accidentally seeing the King’s Troops marching under cover of a Rising Ground by the South side of the Town, had not rode into the Place and given the Alarm to the Rebells who thereupon fled with such Precipitation that the[Pg 361] Troops could not come up with them.[616] Lord [George Murray, Lord Elcho, and others of their Chiefs left their Dinner just as it was going to be set upon the Table. The Dragoons pursued, but not being able to come up with them they took Possession of the Bridge of Linlithgow, over the water Avon, about a mile to the West of that Place, left a sufficient Guard there, and then went into the Town, and eat the Dinner the Rebells had provided, and got ready for themselves.] The Person who gave the alarm was apprehended together with one of the Rebells, and sent Prisoners to Edinburgh, and Mr. Grosett after General Husk appointed proper Places for Out Guards returned to Lord Justice Clarke and General Hawley with an Account of these proceedings.

No. 19
Expended in this Service
4 5 0

The Army being in great want of Gunners and other proper persons for the Artillery which was to march the 15th; but could not get forward ’till these were provided Mr. [Pg 362] Grosett by order of Lord Justice Clarke and General Hawley went to Borristownness, and brought from thence nine or Ten Sailors for that purpose who had been Gunners on Board of Men of War.

No. 20
Expended in this Service being obliged to advance money to each of them to subsist their Families in their Absence before they would agree to go upon this service
16 8 0

Lord Justice Clarke having on Thursday the 17th January in the morning received Intelligence of Importance relating to the Motions and Designs of the Rebells; Mr. Grosett was immediately dispatched by his Lordship, to acquaint General Hawley thereof. After the Battle which happened that day, Mr. Grosett was sent back to acquaint Lord Justice Clarke what had happened but more especially to let his Lordship know that the Kings Troops had at last beat the Rebells from and kept the Field of Battle ’till obliged to leave it for want of Provision, and leave Seven of their Cannon on the Field for want of Horses to carry them off. This Account gave the greater Joy to Lord Justice Clarke, and the other good Friends of the Government at Edinburgh, as before that time they had, by the Flight of the Troops to that Place, been much alarmed with the Accounts they gave of the Defeat of the Kings Army:[617] As the Troops in their Flight to Edinburgh occasioned those that had been sent from theme with Provisions for the Army to return towards that place. Mr. Grosett [Pg 363] therefore by Order of Lord Justice Clarke returned immediately on fresh Horses to force them all back to Linlithgow there not being a Morsel of Provision to be had on any Consideration there for the Troops, who had all of them been obliged to retire to that Place for want thereof, and who by that means were well supply’d. But as the General did not think it advisable to remain there with the Troops, he sent Mr. Grosett back to Lord Justice Clarke to get Quarters provided for the whole Army against their Arrival at Edinburgh and which was done accordingly by the time they got there which was about Four in the afternoon.

No. 21
Expended in this Service and for Assistance to get forward the Provisions to Linlithgow
5 14 0
Jan. 1745/6

Lord Justice Clarke having formed a Scheme to release the Officers of the Kings Troops, who had been made Prisoners at the Battle of Preston, and bring them by force from the respective places to which they were upon their Parole confined in that Part of the Country of which the Rebells had at that time Possession. In order thereto (after those at Glames were brought to Edinburgh) a Company of the Argyleshire Highlanders were (by Order of Lord Justice Clarke and General Hawley [to Colonel Campbell][618] of the 20th January) put under [Pg 364] Mr. Grosett’s Directions who crossed the Forth with them in the Night at Queens Ferry, and with their assistance secured and brought safely to Edinburgh from different Parts of the Shires of Fyfe and Perth, Colonel Halket, Captains Stewart, Cochrane, and Dundas who at that time were prisoners with the Rebells in these Countries.[619]

No. 22
Expended in this Service for Boats, Freight Horse hire
6 11 0
Jan. 1745/6

Lord Justice Clarke having on the 25th January about Eight at Night received Information that the Rebells had formed a Design of surprizing the Kings Troops that night at Edinburgh, and in particular the Argyleshire Highlanders, who were the Advance Guard to the Kings Army, Mr. Grosett accompanied by Lieutenant Campbell of the Edinburgh Regiment, went by His Lordships Orders, and acquainted Colonel Campbell, and the other officers thereof who commanded the advance parties some miles from [Pg 365] the Town, to put them upon their Guard, and at the same time employed proper Persons to patrole the Country the whole of that Night, to give timely Notice of the Motions and Approach of the Rebells, and who finding out had got Information of their Design came no farther than Linlithgow.

No. 23
Expended in this Service
1 10 0

Upon the 29th January 1745/6 Mr. Grosett was sent by Lord Justice Clarke and General Hawley to meet the Duke and acquaint His Royal Highness that the Troops were ready to march and that the Guards, Coaches, and Relays of Horses were at the proper stages for forwarding His Royal Highness in the most expeditious manner to Edinburgh.

No. 24
... and in getting Coach
1 4 0
Jan. 1745/6

The Duke upon his arrival into Scotland[620] found it necessary for the Service to send two armed Vessells and 100 of the Troops along the Coast of Fife with Sundry Warrants which were only to be shewn and put in execution as things Cast up; These Troops were accordingly embarked by Mr. Grosett, and as His Royal Highness was upon the Recommendation of Lord Justice Clarke pleased to direct that he should have the conducting of this Expedition, and executing of these warrants as occasion should require: The following Order to Captain Coren[621] the Commanding Officer of that Party was with[Pg 366] the Warrants therein referred to delivered to Mr. Grosett, viz:—

‘You are to be assisting to Walter Grosett Esq. one of His Majesty’s Justices of the Peace in executing divers Warrants which he will shew you when proper.’[622]

In consequence thereof Mr. Grosett upon the 30th January sailed in the evening from Leith, with the said Vessell and Party, and proceeded to different places on the North Coast betwixt St. Andrews and Alloa, secured all the Magazines of Provisions, which the Rebells had on that Coast, returned the Provisions (being Oatmeal) to the Persons from whom it had been taken by the Rebells, as they were all of them well affected to the Government, and secured nine of the Rebells and sent them by Order of the Duke prisoners to Sterling, His Royal Highness being at this time there with the Army.

No. 25
Expended in this Service for Boats Freight, and other Charges in embarking the Troops, Landing and reimbarking them from time to time as occasion required, subsistence to them and for Information, Guides, etc.
28 4 0
Feb. 1745/6
No. 26
Expended in providing Boats at Leith and Horses at Kinghorn for carrying with the utmost Expedition a Quantity of Ammunition for the Army at Perth by Order of Lord Justice Clarke of the 8th February
1 15 0

Upon the arrival of the Hessian Troops in the River Forth the 8th February: The[Pg 367] Prince of Hesse having sent Colonel Steuart[623] to Lord Justice Clarke to know where they were to disembark; Mr. Grosett was thereupon directed by His Lordship to proceed with the utmost expedition to the Duke then at Perth to acquaint His Royal Highness thereof,[624] and to know his Pleasure, [whether they should disembark at Leith, or be ordered to the North]; And Mr. Grosett having by three in the morning received his Royal Highness’s Directions to prepare for disembarking them at Leith he immediately returned to Lord Justice Clarke with these Directions.

No. 27
Expended in this Service for Boats Freight to and from Kinghorn, and for Horses from that to and from Perth, and Coach Hire betwixt Leith and Edinburgh
2 15 0

[As Aberdeen, Montrose, Inverness, and the other Places in the North, through which the Army was to march are supply’d with Coals for fireing from the Ports in the River Forth, and as no Coals were allowed to go there while the Rebells were in Possession of these Places they were in that Country in so great want of fireing that the Army under the Duke could not march from Perth till this Want was supply’d, and] As those who were employed to provide the Army with Coals had in vain endeavoured it, and the Duke having directed Lord Justice Clark to be acquainted with the difficulties [Pg 368] they were in Mr. Grosett together with Mr. Henry[625] were thereupon sent by his Lordship’s Directions of the 11th February[626] to all the Ports and Creeks upon the River Forth, and got immediately a considerable Number of Ships and Vessells loden with Coals, and sent them to the different Ports and Places in the North where the Army was to be, and who by these means were instantly well supply’d, and enabled to March, when and where his Royal Highness thought proper.

No. 28
Expended in this Service
6 9 0
Feb., 1745/6

The Duke having ordered Blyth’s Regiment[627] with about Four hundred Men of different Corps to be sent by sea from Leith to join the Army in the North; Mr. Grosett by Direction of Lord Justice Clarke of the 23rd February got proper Transports prepared for that purpose, shipt the necessary Provisions, and embarked the men, and which was oblig’d to be done in the night by sending them three Miles in Boats from the Harbour to the Road of Leith to prevent the Transports being neaped in the Harbour.

No. 29
Expended in this Service and sending the Horses of the Regiment from Leith to Kinghorn by water, they being ordered to go from thence by Land to the Army
8 8 0
March, 1745/6

The Transports being put back after they had sailed, and got near their Port and being detained by contrary Winds in the Road of [Pg 369] Leith Mr. Grosett got them supply’d by order of Lord Justice Clarke with additional Stores of Provisions and Boats for bringing on shore such of the recovered Men of the different Corps as had fallen Ill by their confinement.

No. 30
Expended in this Service
6 4 0
March, 1745/6

The Duke having ordered a considerable Quantity of Biscuits to be sent him to the North in order to their being carry’d along with the Army as they marched into the Highlands Mr. Grosett by Direction of Lord Justice Clarke of the 6th March got a sufficient Quantity for that purpose from the Castle put up in proper Casks and Baggs, and immediately sent off in to Vessells from Leith, which he had provided for that Service.

No. 31
Expended in this Service
4 13 0

The Duke having sent Directions to Lord Justice Clarke to provide 10 Boats of 20 and 30 Tons Burthen to attend the Army with Provisions and other necessaries as they marched along the Coasts, and as they were immediately wanted: Mr. Grosett by his Lordships Order of the 11th March[628] went to the proper Places where these Boats and small Vessells were to be had and sent them directly away to his Royal Highness, under the care of Mr. M‘Gill Commander of one of the Kings Boats at Leith to whom Mr. Grosett by order of Lord Justice Clarke gave Ten Pounds towards paying his Expenses.

No. 32
Expended in this Service
12 18 0
[Pg 370]
March, 1745/6

The Transports with the Troops for the North being put back a second time and a great number of the recovered men falling sick again by their confinement the Duke ordered them to be taken o’shore and sent across the Forth from Leith to Kinghorn in Boats and to march from that by Land, which Mr. Grosett did accordingly on the 14th March.

No. 33
Expended in this Service
4 3 0

Lord Justice Clarke having received an Express from his Grace the Duke of Newcastle with a letter from General Price at Berwick dated 16th March[629] acquainting His Grace that he had received Information from a sure hand that Corn from Northumberland and the adjacent Counties were carried to Wooler a Town 14 Miles from Berwick, and from thence Westward between Stirling and Dumbarton Castle, and privately embarked on the River Clyde, and sent thro’ the Western Islands to Lochaber for the use of the Rebells; Mr. Grosett was thereupon desired by Lord Justice Clarke to go to Sterling and from thence across the Country to Dumbarton Castle, and along the coast to all the Ports and Creeks on the River Clyde as well to enquire particularly into the Truth of this Information as to leave proper Orders and Directions at the Places above mentioned to prevent Provisions of any sort being carried from thence to the Rebells and which Mr. Grosett did accordingly, but did not find that any provisions had gone that way. [Pg 371]

No. 34
Expended in this Service having rode about Two hundred miles therein.
11 18 0
April, 1746

Lord Justice Clarke having upon the 4th of April received an Express from Brigadier Genl. Price Governor of Berwick giving an Account that three large and one smaller Men of War had appeared off Holy Island and as they made no Return to the proper Signals that were made them from that place, and King’s Sloops and Boats that were cruizing there they believed them to be French Men of War come to the Assistance of the Rebells and as this Account was confirmed by an Express from Mr. Castlelaw, Collector at Dunbar, and Mr. Fall one of the Magistrates there; and that these ships were come within the Mouth of the Forth Mr. Grosett at the Desire of the Lord Justice Clarke went thereupon in the Night and acquainted the Commanders of the Men of War then lying in the Road of Leith thereof. But as they were of no Force to make head against them, these with the other Ships in the Road prepared to slip their Cables, and proceed farther up the Firth, upon the approach of the Men of War above mentioned; After this Mr. Grosett with the assistance of the Custom House and several fishing Boats, which he forced out from Newhaven in the night went in quest of these Men of War, to know certainly what they were, and next day found them to be Dutch Men of War to whom the proper Signals had not been given upon their leaving Holland.

No. 35
Expended in this Service
5 15 0
[Pg 372]
April, 1746

The Duke having sent Orders to the Earl of Home[630] who at this time commanded the Troops that lay at Edinburgh to forward with the utmost Expedition to the North the Four Thousand recovered Men of different Corps that were come there from England, Mr. Grosett at his Lordship’s and Lord Justice Clarkes desire went and provided proper Transports, and saw the men embarked and sent off to his Royal Highness, agreeable to Lord Home’s Order of the 15th April 1746.[631]

No. 36
Expended in this Service, and for Boats to embark the men in the Road of Leith.
6 10 0
April, 1746

The Transports with these men being detained in the Road of Leith by Contrary Winds, and Doctor Maxwell who had the care of the Hospital, having apply’d to Lord Justice Clarke for an additional Transport, to put the weakest and most sickly of the men by themselves Mr. Grosett, was desired to provide one, and which he did accordingly.

No. 37
Expended in this Service and for Boats employed in removing the men and provisions from one ship to another.
4 12 0

Commodore Smith[632] upon his Arrival in the [Pg 373] Firth of Forth with the Ships of War under his command being ordered to proceed to the Orkneys, with these and the other Ships, and Sloops of War then in the Road of Leith to prevent their getting assistance from France or making their Escape from these Coasts and Islands; and having thereupon apply’d to Lord Justice Clarke to provide him with proper Pilots for each of the Ships that were to go on that Service: Mr. Grosett by his Lordship’s Directions went and got them immediately provided from different Ports.

No. 38
Expended in this service
4 8 0
[Pg 374]
April, 1746

The Great Coats, Blankets, Shoes, Shirts, Waistcoats, Gloves, etc., given by different Companies and Corporations in Presents to the Army being sent to the Care of Lord Justice Clarke,[633] Mr. Grosett by his Lordships Directions received and saw them duely forwarded from time to time to the Army.

No. 39
Expended in this Service
10 5 0

His Royal Highness the Duke having directed Lord Justice Clarke to be apply’d to for his assistance in procuring what should from time to time be found necessary for the Army in general; and in particular for the more speedy embarkation of the Hessian Troops, and the Four British Regiments ordered for Flanders, and in getting the Clothing of Major General Wolf’s Regiment[634] forwarded in the most expeditious manner from Leith to Perth that Regimt. being upon Receipt thereof ordered to march to Burnt Island to embark there with the other British Regiments. Mr. Grosett by his Lordship’s Directions accordingly assisted Colonel Steuart and others in procuring what was from time to time found necessary for these purposes.

No. 40
Expended in this Service
7 8 0

That besides the services above mentioned Mr. Grosett was during the Course of the Rebellion constantly employed by Lord Justice Clarke in the extraordinary [Pg 375] affairs of the Government at this ... to answer all Imergence ... ty for his keeping Horses at different ... and as some of them fell into the hands of the Rebells, and others were lost by hard Riding and other accidents.

No. 41
Expended on this Account and sundry other Services during the Course of the Rebellion not mentioned in the Above Articles.
110 0 0
Total Money Expended. 662 11 0
Received of the above Sum from Genl. Guest to Acct. 105 0 0
Ballance 557 11 0

Wal: Grosett.

N.B.—Mr. Grosett being from the first Breaking out of the Rebellion employed in so open and remarkable a manner in the service of the Government created against him the particular Ill will of the Jacobites and their Adherents and who on that account took every Opportunity of shewing their Resentment against him, they plundered his House in the Town of Alloa, and in the Country carried off effects to a very great value, drove all the Cattle from off his Estate, forced the Payment of the Rents thereof to them, stript his wife and children of the very cloathes they had on, and used otherways in a most inhuman manner.

Brunstane, 4th Septem. 1747.

‘I do certify that Mr. Grosett was employ’d by me in the service of the Government in the several matters above mentioned, and also on other occasions and was[Pg 376] zealous and active in the Execution of whatever was committed to his care.

‘(Signed)
And. Fletcher,
Lord Justice Clarke.’

N.B.—These Services ... forth and Certify’d in a Pap ... Cope, the Generals Guest, ... syde and Hawley and by Lord Home.

Nothing charged for trouble and loss of time, etc.

[This postscript is too torn to decipher accurately but it refers to the ‘Narrative’ which bears this docquet]:—

We have perused the above Narrative, and do hereby certify that the same is true so far as regards us respectively,

R. Handasyde.
Home. H. Hawley.
Jos. Guest.
Jno. Cope.

[Pg 379]

LETTERS AND ORDERS FROM THE CORRESPONDENCE OF WALTER GROSSETT

I

The Lord Advocate to Walter Grossett and others

By the Honl Robt. Craigie Esqr His Majesties Advocate General

These are ordering and requiring you and each of you to concur in sending all Vessells of whatever kind upon the North and Southsides of the Firth from Stirling to Kinghorn to the Harbours of Leith and Borristounness and in case of resistance you are to use force in making the Order effectual Given under my Hand at Edinburgh this ninth day of Sepr 1745 yeare.

Rob: Craigie.

To all Sherriffs Justices of Peace Magistrats of Burghs and all others his Majesties Leedgeses.

Mr. Grosett the Coll. at Alloa has Special Directions to See this order put in Execution.

Rob: Craigie.

II

Lieutenant-General Handasyde to Walter Grossett

By the Honble Roger Handasyde Esqr Lieutenant General and Commander in Cheif of All His Majesty’s Forces, in North Britain etc.

Whereas it has been found Injurious to His Majesty’s Service that any Boats shou’d pass from Leith to Kinghorn or from Kinghorn to [Pg 380] Leith, These are therefore Requiring All Magistrates, Justices of the Peace, Constables and Others concerned to be Aiding and Assisting to you in bringing all the Passage Boats and Yauls from Kinghorn and all other places on the North Side of the Forth to the Harbour of Leith where they are to be kept till His Majesty’s Service shall allow of their being returned to their Respective Ports.

Given under my hand at Edinburgh this 26th Novemr 1745.

R: Handasyde.

To Walter Grosett Esqr Collector of His Majesty’s Customs.

III

Lieutenant-General Handasyde to Walter Grossett

By the Honble Roger Handasyd Esqr. Leutt General and Commander in Chief of all His Majs Forces in North Brittain.

Whereas it has been found Injurious to His Majesties Service that any Boats should pass from the North or South sides of the Forth or that any Vessells whatever should be allowed to remain upon the North side of the said River These are therefore requiring all Magistrats, Justices of the Peace, Constables and others concerned to be aiding and assisting to you in Stoping the said passage and removeing all Boats and Vessells whatever from the North to the South Side of the Forth from Kinghorn to Stirling Bridge and in case of resistance or refussall to Burn or otherwise Destroy such Boats and Vessells as shall after due Intimation made be found upon the North Side of the said River.

Given under my Hand at Edinburgh this 27th November 1745.

R: Handasyde.

To Walter Grosett Esqr, Collr of His Majesties Customs at Alloa, and one of His Majs Justices of ye Peace.

[Pg 381]

IV

The Commissioners of Customs to Walter Grossett

Mr. Grosett.

Inclosed We send You for Your Government and Direction, a Copy of a Letter from the Lord Justice Clerk and General Guest Commander in Chief of His Majestys Forces in Scotland, Containing an order and Instructions for bringing over all Ships, Vessels, Boats and Yoals of all sorts and sizes lying in the Harbours and Creeks betwixt Stirling Bridge and St Andrews inclusive on the North side of the Frith with their Apparel and Furniture, and for laying them up in the several Harbours therein Specified on the South side of the Frith, and in the Execution of these Directions and Instructions, all Officers whatsoever under Our direction, are to give You their utmost assistance when required so to do, as they will answer the Contrary at their Peril, and You are particularly to apply to the respective Officers in the several Ports and Precincts for their Aid and Information. The General having given proper orders to the Captain of the Milford Man of war to concur and assist You in this Servise, You are to meet and Concert with him proper measures for the Effectual Execution thereof. We are,

Your Loving Friends,

Co: Campbell.
Alex Arbuthnott.
Rd. Somers.

Customho Edinbr
8th Decemr 1745.
}

Collr Alloa.

Enclosure to No. IV.

Edinbr Decemr 9th 1745.

Gentlemen—We think it absolutely necessary for the Good and Service of the Government at this Conjuncture, that all the Ships, Vessels, Boats and Yoals of all sorts and Sizes, with their Apparel and Furniture, in all Harbours[Pg 382] and Creeks etc. betwixt Stirling Bridge and St Andrews inclusive on the North side of the Frith of Forth, be brought over and Moord in the several Harbours of Dunbar, Leith, Queensferry and Borrowstoness, and these on the South side of the said River, betwixt Cramond and Eymouth be Carried to Leith and Dunbar, as the Persons to be Employed by You in the Execution hereof, shall Judge to be most Conveneint, all to remain in these respective Harbours untill further orders; We therefore earnestly recommend it to You as proper Judges, to Nominate and Appoint such of Your Officers under Your Direction and Government to Execute our Orders as You shall think most fit to be Employed for the doing of so necessary a Duty, And as some former Orders of this Nature have not been observed and obeyed so punctually as Directed for want of other proper Assistance, We do therefore hereby direct and ordain all Magistrates of Burghs Justices of the Peace, Constables etc. within the respective bounds aforesaid, laying aside all Excuses whatsoever, to be aiding and assisting to the Person or Persons that are possessed of Copys hereof, and of Your Instructions given by You to them, as they will be answerable upon their highest Peril; and in Case any of the Proprietors or others Concerned in said Ships etc. as abovementd shall not forthwith Comply with these Our orders, Then the Persons so Employed are hereby ordained to burn and Destroy the same, where any objections or refusals are made to obey and Comply herewith, and the aforesaid Copys hereof with your Instructions as above, shall be to them a Sufficient Warrant for destroying of the above Ships etc. not doubting of Your Compliance and Concurrence, We are,

Sign’d { And: Fletcher.
Jos: Guest.

N.B.—Buys Boat who has been often Employed in transporting of Rebels frequently, should be burnt out of hand.

Honble Commrs of the Customs Edr.

[Pg 383]

V

Lieutenant-General Guest to Walter Grossett

Edenburgh December the 15th 1745.

Sr,—I agree to your hiring the Borrowstness Ship at the Rate you mention, provided the owners dont insist on my Insuring her from the Enemy, for that I cant consent to—if they comply, you’l immediatly station her at Higgins Nook, and Nicol at Carse’s Nook, or wherever they can be best placed for His Majestys Service. You’l give them positive Derections to be very carefull, in watching both sides the River, and sending immediat Intelligence to the Ld Justice Clerk, on discovering any Motions of the Enemy.

You’l consider the Ship is not ensured now, and is in as much, or more danger than when employd by his Majesty.—I am Sr your most Obedt humble Servant,

Jos: Guest.

VI

Walter Grossett to the Commissioners of Customs

Hond. Sirs,—In Obedience to your directions of the 8th Instant Inclosing an Order and Warrand from Lord Justice Clerk and General Guest Commander in chief of the Forces in Scotland, for bringing over all Ships, Vessells and Boats, lying in any of the Harbours or Creeks, betwixt Stirling and S: Andrews on the North side of the Firth, to the Harbours therein specified on the south side thereof, and for Burning or destroying the ships and Vessells etc., of such of the Proprieters thereof as should refuse to comply with these Orders; I have with the assistance of the Kings Boats at Queensferry and Borristounness, and two Boats Crews belonging to the Happy Janet stationed off Queensferry, removed, disabled, or destroyed, all Boats and Vessells that lay betwixt Stirling and Aberdour. But as the doing of this, would not have hinder the Rebell Army from geting a Cross the River, while Boats and Vessells were allowed to remain at the severall Creeks in[Pg 384] Carron Water, and at Hargens Nuik Airth, and Elphingstone, and other Creeks on the south side of the Forth betwixt Borristounness and Stirling; I therefore proceeded to these places, and prevailed with severall of the Proprieters of Boats and Vessells there, to remove them from thence, but as some of them refused to comply, by reason of their not being included in the Order and Warrand above mentioned, I am therefore Humbly of Opinion, that Lord Justice Clerk and General Guest should be applyed to, for a Warrand for the removing or destroying of them. And as there are at this time at Alloa, a considerable quantity of Deals and Learge Loggs of Wood, of 30 or 40 feet in Length, of which Floots may not only easely be made, for the Transporting of Men, Horses etc.; from the one side of the River to the other, but upon which Flooting Batteries may be reased, to move from place to place, to play upon such of His Majesties Forces or others, who may be employed in Defending the Banks of the River, to prevent the Landing of the Rebells. It is therefore Humbly submitted, how far it may be thought proper at this Juncture, to have these Deals and Loggs removed from Alloa. If this is approven off, what I would propose as the easiest method of removing them, would be to put them on Board of Vessells, to ly at Borristounness till the danger is over. With this view I spook to several shipmasters of my acquaintance, (who I knew to be good Whiggs and well wishers to the common Cause) on Tuesday last at Borristounness, and who at my request, readily agreed to take them on Board their Vessells, upon their only being paid the Charges they should be put to in going to Alloa to Load and unload them. All which is Humbly Submitted by Hon: Sirs Your Hors Most Obedt Huml Servt

Wat: Grosett.

Edinburgh 16th Decr 1745.

Endorsements.

16th Decr 1745.

Mr. Grosett to wait upon the Justice Clerk and Genl Guest with this Lre. and to Report their Opinion.

W. H. for the Secry.

[Pg 385]

The Board approve Mr. Grosetts Conduct and Zeal in this whole Affair and his proposal is agreed to if the Lord Justice Clerk and Genl Guest think proper.

W. H. for the Secretary.

VII

The Commissioners of Customs to Walter Grossett, forwarding approval of Lord Justice Clerk and General Guest

Edinburgh 16th Decr 1745.

We approve of Mr. Grosetts Conduct and proposalls and desire the Board of Customs may give him the proper directions for puting the same in Execution and for which end a proper Warrant shall be granted by us.

And Fletcher.
Jos: Guest.

Mr. Grosett

Having considered the above Approbation of the Lord Justice Clerk and General Guest, We heartily agree with the same and direct you to proceed accordingly, having first obtained their Warrant for the purposes as mentioned in Your Letter of this date.

Co: Campbell.
Alexr Arbuthnott.
Rd. Somers.

Custom Ho Edinburgh
16th December 1745.

VIII

The Lord Justice Clerk to Walter Grossett

(Holograph but not signed)

Pray forward the Inclosed, and get all Stirling shire in Arms immediately, If Ld Home approves G. Blackney will give arms—raise ye Hue and Cry—Cause the Sherriff distribute ye papers yt comes wt ys bearer.

Go on and prosper.

[Pg 386]

Edr 19th Decr 1745.

I have paid none of the Expresses yt they may make more hast but given every one two shills. wch is not to be deducted out of yr hire if they make Speed.

IX

Lieutenant-General Guest to Walter Grossett

Joshua Guest Esqr Lieut. General and Commander in Cheif of all His Majesty’s Forces, Castles, Forts and Barracks in North Britain etc.

His Majesty’s Service Requiring that all Vessells and Boats of whatever Size be instantly removed out of the Harbours of Borrostouness, Queensferry, Leith or any where else upon the South Coast of the Forth betwixt Leith and Stirling, Those at Borrostouness and Queensferry to the Road of Borrostouness or Such other place or places as you shall think most for His Majesty’s Service at this Juncture; those at Leith to the Road of Leith or such other place as you shall judge most proper for said Service; These are therefore Authorizing and Empowering you to put the said order in Execution, and to which purpose the Commanders of His Majesty’s Ships of War or others employ’d in the Kings Service, are hereby Required to give you their Utmost Assistance, as are all Magistrates, Justices of the Peace, Constables, and all other Persons, Civil or Military whom these may Concern. A Copy hereof sign’d by you shall be a sufficient warrant to any Person required or empower’d by you in the Execution hereof as they will answer to the Contrary at their highest Peril.

Given at Edinburgh the 21st day of Decemr 1745.

Jos: Guest.

To Walter Grosett Esqr Collector of His Majesty’s Customs.

[Pg 387]

X

Lieutenant-General Guest’s Directions

Directions for the Master of the Boat that goes to Borrostouness.

Edinburgh 22d Decem. 1745.

He is to sail directly for Borrostouness, lye out in the Road of that place and send in his Boat or yawl, to Collector Grosett who is there and get directions from him how he is to dispose of his Cargo, part of which is to go to Stirling Viz. the 9 pounders Cannon Ball, Spunges, etc.

The Pouder and small Cannon Ball is for the use of the Jean of Alloa, and Pretty Janet, that are stationed near that place or at Higgens Nuik. The Biscuit which is to be taken in at Leith from Mr. Walker is to be disposed of at Bosness as Mr. Grosett will direct. In case of any accident of your not meeting with Mr. Grosett, I desire Cap. Knight of the Happy Janet may forward im̅ediately the 9 pound Cannon Ball, Spunges etc. to Stirling, where General Blakeney has present occasion for them.

Jos: Guest.

To the Master of the Boat Order’d to sail for Borrostouness.

XI

Captain Knight R.N. to Walter Grossett

Sir,—Having Sent 7 pounds of powder, 20 Sheets fine paper made in Cartridges and 15 pounds Musquet Shot to be used, if occasion required it, by my people in preventing the Rebells passage at Higgens-Nook, which I understand you gaue to John Peirson Master of the Pretty Jennett, I desire you will be pleased to procure an Order from General Guest to me for supplying these Ordnance Stores to him, with his Ricept to Alexander Wedderburn Master of the Armed Vessel under my Command of the[Pg 388] Same, and to transmit both to me at this place with the first opportunity.—I am Sir, Your very humble Servant,

Jno. Knight.

Happy Jennett Queensferry Road
22d December 1745.

Walter Grosett Esq. Collector of his Majts Customs at Alloa.

XII

Lieutenant-General Guest to Walter Grossett

Joshua Guest Esqr Lieut. General and Commander in Cheif of all His Majesty’s Forces, Castles, Forts and Barracks in North Britain etc.

His Majesty’s Service Requiring that a number of Vessells and Boats be hired for Transporting of His Majesty’s Forces, These are therefore authorizing and Empowering you to hire such a number of Vessells and Boats and make such agreement with them as you shall judge necessary at this Juncture, and I hereby oblige myself to make good such agreement, for which this shall be your Warrant. Given at Edinburgh this 22d December 1745.

Jos: Guest.

To Walter Grosett Esqr Collector of His Majesty’s Customs.

XIII

The Earl of Home to Walter Grosset

Linlithgow Decer 23 1745.

Sir,—Having receiv’d information That John Liddel in Haugh of Dalderse lying in Newtown Pow hath a Boat, and that there are another Boat upon Carron Watter belonging to James Simpson on the west side of John Liddels in the Pow about the Slyde bank bridge, I desire you’l order them to be immediatly secured or destroyed as you think proper.—I am Sir Your Humble Serv.

Home.

[Pg 389]

XIV

Lieutenant-General Guest to Walter Grossett

Edinburgh 23d Decem. 1745.

Sir,—There being a necessity for the Forces who are this night to be at Linlithgow and Borrostouness, to march in here tomorrow morning by Ten o’clock if possible, which I have sent them orders to do, I therefore desire the favour of you to hire all the Ships that are loose that lye at Borrostouness or Contiguous, and in the first place, I hereby empower you to employ the Vessells that are in His Majesty’s Service and stationed at Higgens Nuik or elsewhere near you (Excepting the Happy Janet who is to continue in her Station) In order to put aboard the said Vessells or Boats the Baggage and Sick or more Men as the Commanding Officer of these Forces shall direct, which Vessells are to proceed to Berwick, You will cause lay in what meal or other provisions can be got for the men that are in these Vessells. If this Service cannot be performed without the assistance of the Happy Janet I have sent an order for that purpose.—I am Sr Your most humb Sert.

Jos: Guest.

P.S.—The Boat with Biscuit etc. cou’d not Sail last night, nor this day the wind being contrary, but it shall be sent or meet the Vessells as they come opposite to Leith.

XV

Lieutenant-General Guest to Captain Knight R.N.

Edinburgh 23d Decemr 1745.

Walter Grosett Esqr has directions from me to be assisting to the Forces that are this night to Quarter at Linlithgow and Borrostouness in which I also desire you will do your Utmost, either in Transporting them eastwards or Otherways as he will give you directions from the Commanding officer, and you will [Pg 390]return to your Station as soon as possible. I am Sr, Your most humble Sert.

Jos: Guest.

To Capt Knight of the Happy Janet.

XVI

The Lord Justice Clerk to Walter Grossett

Edr 23d Decr 1745.

Sir,—I refer you to ye Generalls orders Now is the time to Exert your self at a dead pull. Home will shew you mine and the necessity of the troops moveing to Hadinton too Morrow, either on Horseback or put aboard—now Dr. Sr. Exert and get the Volunteers to exert in getting in the Horses, and theyll get full payment for their hire you must not notice[635] their march further yn yt place, else perhaps theyll not be so ready to give yr Horses. I am your Slave.

A. F.

If you bring up ye rear youll haue the post of Honour.

You shall have intelligence all right.

XVII

The Lord Justice Clerk to Walter Grossett

(Holograph but not signed)

Ed. 23 Decr 1745.

Dear Sir,—I red yours about 7 at night, and you have done Exceeding well, if you bring up the Rear right I think you should Command those that command you now. I have no notion of shipping any Horses, they are in no danger, the men may be landed at Northberwick Dumbar or Heymouth[636] as the wind serves, or even at Holy Island if they cannot land Sooner wt Safety, but yt is only my private opinion, the ordor of ye proper Officers is the Rule.

[Pg 391]

The Shipping was chiefly designed for the Baggage seek and weak, and the Ships may be employed to bring Oats etc. for G. Wades Armye.

XVIII

The Earl of Home to Walter Grossett

Linlithgow tuesday Morning
24th Decr near One O clock 1745.

The three Companys being Warm’d with the Same Zeal with those of Glasgow are willing to Share the Same fate with them and have March’d to Borrostouness to go on board, So I must desire you to have them put on Board with all expedition, and I dont doubt of your doing every thing in your power for the accomadation of Men who deserve it So well. I am in haste Yours

Home.

I have not had any farther accounts.

To Mr. Groset.

XIX

Lieutenant-General Guest to Walter Grossett

By Joshua Guest Esqr. Lieut. General of His Majesty’s Forces etc. etc.

I desire you will go to Borrostouness and take whatever Cannon you may find in that Town or aboard the Ships in the Harbour, and send them here for the Defence of this City, and your Receipt for what number you Receive shall be Allowed by me, for doing whereof this shall be to you and all Concerned a sufficient warrant.

Given at Edinburgh the 1st January 1745.

Jos: Guest.

To Walter Grosett Esqr Collector of His Majesty’s Customs.

[Pg 392]

XX

The Lord Justice Clerk and Major-General Huske to Walter Grossett and others

Leith 8 Jan. 1746.

Whereas Some Matts of Flax are requisite for his Majestys Service You are hereby authorised to take aboard of the Transports now employed in his Majestys Service Such a number of Matts of Flax from aboard of a Dutch Sloop laying in the road of Leith for wch you are to give your Receipt, as you judge necessary for his Majestys Service. Given day and date forsaid.

And Fletcher.
John Huske.

To the Officer Commanding the Troops
or the Comander of ye Transports
now employed in his Majestys Service
or Walter Groset Esqr.

XXI

The Lord Justice Clerk to Walter Grossett

Sr,—I red your Letter of yesterday noon off the nuik, I am sorry you came so late, however as you have done something, and if you meet wt no loss, all is well. The inclosed from G. Hawley to Coll. Leighton is wt orders to return in case nothing of importance can be done wt Safety. The oyr for Genll Blackney from Gnll Hawley, we wish could be delivered and an answer got as upon it depends matters of great Consequence, So I do not question youll exert your Invention. Matters are prepareing for a March. My Compliments and best wishes to all freinds wt you. Yours etc.

A. F.

[Pg 393]

Edinbr Friday 12 aclock 10th Jany 1746.

XXII

Lieutenant-General Hawley to Major-General Blackeney.

Edinborow 10th Jan: 1745-6.

Sr,—I had a verball message from you by a man this morning desyring reliefe. I am getting the foot, who are come up, repaired as soone as possible, for withe the nine days marche, after all things others they are good deale harrased butt in good spiritts.

I shall move towards you, if possible a Sunday, in the meantime let me know by the bearer or some other way, how long you can hold out, no more now but that I am sinceerly yrs.

H. C. Hawley.

XXIII

Permit from Lord Justice Clerk for Walter Grossett

Edenburgh the 26 Janr 1746.

Permitt Mr. Grosert and oyrs with him to pass and repass at the west port of Edr the Same being for his Majestys Special Service.

And Fletcher.

To all Officers Civill and Military.

XXIV

Warrant from Lord Justice Clerk to all Officers of the Law

Edinbr 30 Janr 1746.

Whereas I am informed that James Drummond of Drummond commonly called the Duke of Perth with oyrs concerned in the present Rebellion are in or about ye House of Lundie in Fife These are therefore Granting warrant to all Officers of ye Law wt yr Assistants to search the said house of Lundie or any oyr houses [Pg 394]they have reason to Suspect ye said persons are and them haveing found to seize and apprehend them and detain them in sure Custody till thence Liberated by due Course of the Law, for wch this shall be to all and Sundry Concerned a Sufficent warrant.

And Fletcher.

XXV

The Lord Justice Clerk to Captain Coren

Sir,—I desire you will be assisting to Walter Grosert of Logie Esqr. one of his Majesties Justices of the peace in Executeing divers warrands wch he will show you when proper. Sir I am Your most Obedient humble Servant,

And Fletcher.

Edinburgh the 30th Janr 1746.

To Captain Coren or the Commanding officer of the party to go aboard the Bylander[637] at Leith.

XXVI

The Lord Justice Clerk to Walter Grosett

Edr., 1st Febr. 1745/6.

Sir,—You are to proceed with the Bylander towards Higgins neuk and allowa and there assisted by Captain Coren and ye party you are to Search for Suspected persons, ammunition and provisions belonging to the Rebells of wch you have particular Notice, for wch this shall be sufficient warrand.

And Fletcher.

To Walter Grosert of Logie one of his Majestys Justices of the Peace.

P.S.—You are to acquaint Genll Hawley of what Success you have and take your further directions from him.

[Pg 395]

XXVII

Lieutenant-General Hawley to ——

Stirling 2d February 1745/6.

Sir,—As to the eight or nine persons you have Prisoners of the Rebells, you’l deliver them to the Corporal Who gives you this. The Meal, Bread, and Money etc. which the Rebells Left at Alloa you’l immediatly Secure for His Majesties use, for the Doing of which this Shall be to you a Sufficient Warrant.

H. C. Hawley.

P.S.—If you can Secure the person who Released the Officer Send him prisoner hither.

XXVIII

The Lord Justice Clerk to Walter Grossett

Edn the 8 Febr 1746.

Sr,—I desire yuell go wt ye utmost Expedition to give his Royall Highness an actt of the prince of Hesse’s arrival with the Hessians, they came from Williamstadt on Tuesday last, they have the Hazzars aboard, and you are to desire to know the Dukes directions where they are to be landed, as none of them can be landed this night, ys actt I have from Coll. Stewart who is just arrived. Mentione every thing is prepareing for the Reception of the prince, and getting bread and forrage for the troops. I am Yours etc.

And Fletcher.

To Walter Groset Esqr. at Leith.

The ammunition is gone by Stirlinge.

XXIX

The Same to the Same

Edr 11th Febr 1746.

Sr,—Upon receipt of this I desire yeull visite all the ports on the Forth where Coals are shipped, and agree[Pg 396] for Coals being transported for the use of ye army by Sea to Montrose, and to report to me by Express what agreements you make and to what extent wt ye ships name and masters names. I am Sr Your most humble Servant,

And Fletcher.

To Walter Groset Esqr Collector of the Customs at Allowa.

XXX

The Lord Justice Clerk to Walter Grossett

Edinburgh 11th Mar: 1746.

Sir,—You or any having your Authority are hereby Impowered to Contract with any persons you think proper for Ten boats to be employed in His Majestys Service in carrying provisions and other necessarys to the Army, and for which you shall have the proper protections.

And Fletcher.

To Walter Grosett Esqr, Collector of the Customs at Alloa.

XXXI

Brigadier-General Price to the Duke of Newcastle

My Lord,—I have the honour to acquaint Your Grace that I received an Information from I think a pretty sure hand That Corn from Northumberland and the Adjacent Countys which formerly was brought to this Market is now carryed to that of Wooler a Town fourteen miles from hence and immediatly bought there which if my intelligence is right carryed westward between Stirling and Dunbarton Castle for the use of the Rebels. Of this I last post sent notice to Major General Blackney at Stirling how it is carryed forward from thence My Information does not say but I supposed to be embarked on the River Clyde and sent through the Western Islands to Lochaber which may easily be prevented by small arm’d boats crusing there or if sent in boats by Lockloman and[Pg 397] so conveyed into the hills may be prevented by the Argyle and Breadalbine people doing their duty. I am now looking out for a trusty person to be employed about Wooler in hopes to trace this matter to a Certainty which as soon as I can do shall not faile of acquainting Your Grace with it.

I should be mighty glad to receive Your Grace’s Commands how to proceed in this affair It wou’d give me the greatest pleasure Could I be Instrumental in bringing these Villanous Banditte to their Condign punishment. I am etc.

Jno Price.

Berwick Sunday
March the 16th 1745/6.

XXXII

Walter Grossett to the Lord Justice Clerk

My Lord,—Agreeable to what your Lordship recommended to me with respect to what Brigdr Price acquainted His Grace the Duke of Newcastle in his Letter of the 16th Instant, that Corns bought at Wooler was according to his Intelligence, carried Westwards between Stirling and Dunbarton etc. I immediatly set out for Stirling and from that went across the Country towards Dunbarton and Glasgow and from thence by the Banks of the River Clyde to this place. Upon my arrival here I found along with Sir John Schaw, Mr. Hammilton who has the Commission from keeping out the Irish Corns from this Country and who agreeable to your directions to Sir John Schaw, had Just come there from a Survey he had made along the Coast of Galloway, to prevent the Rebels from getting Supply from that part of the Country and from what Mr. Hamilton tells me and I have otherwise Informed my self off I can now assure your Lordship that if Corns have been carried from Wooler Westward, no part of these Corns have been carried to the Rebels, and that they have not been supplyed with Provisions of any sort from this part of the Country. I thought it my Duty to take the first opportunity to acquaint your Lordship of this, and shall without fail be with you again on Munday to receive your further[Pg 398] commands. Till then I beg to be allowed the Honour to remain with the greatest respect and Esteem etc.

W. G.

Greenock 30th Mar. 1746.

XXXIII

Earl of Home to Walter Grossett

Edinburgh 14th Ap: 1746.

As the Service requires Transports and Provisions for carrying four Hundered Men to Inverness I desire you will with the utmost Expedition provide proper Transports and lay in the usual Provision for four Hundered Men for thirty dayes and the Charges you may on that account be put to I hereby Oblige my self to pay the same to your order.

Home.

To Walter Grosett Esqr.

XXXIV

Walter Grossett to Masters of Transports

Leith 19th Aprile 1746.

Sir,—I have Now Imployed your Vessell the       of the Burthen of       Tons as a Transport in his Majestys Service for which you are to have Ten Shillings p Ton Monthly for one Month Certain and thereafter Proportionaly so long as you are Continued in the Service.

You are therefor to Proceed from the Harbour of Leith with the Recovered Men and Provisions Onboard, Directly to Inverness and there follow the Directions of his Royl Highness the Duke of Cumberland or those acting under him as to their Landing, and you are to be free after Landing the Men and Provisions unless Longer continued in the Service by orders as Above. I am, Sir, Yours etc.

Wat: Grosett.

List of the Ships Imployed as Transpts

Ann—Thomas Masterman 100 Janet—George Dougall 110
Speedwell—Robt Laurence 81 Jean—John Roxburgh 50
[Pg 399]

XXXV

Notes of Lieutenant Dickson to the Lord Justice-Clerk forwarded to Walter Grossett

Having received His Royal Highness the Dukes Orders to Apply to Lord Justice Clerk for his Assistance in providing Carriages or other Conveyances for the Cloathing of Majr General Wolfe’s Regimt from Leith to Perth. I have Complied with the Above Order this 13 July 1746.

Wm. Dickson.
Lieut in Genl Wolfe’s Regimt.

Would you have the Cloathing carried by Sea or Land?

A. F.

If the Conveyance by Water all the Way to Perth is not uncertain in point of time, it is the most easy and less expensive Method; but if the time of making the passage is uncertain, I must of necessity take the Means of Carriages by Land from Kinghorn.

W. D.

Edr 13th July 1746. 12 at Noon.

Mr. Groset

Sir, pray go to Leith with the above Mr. Dickson and Settle the carriage of the Above Cloathing in the best manner. I herewith deliver you a Letter to Baillie Hamilton in Kinghorn to prouide Carriages; after viewing the Parcells yuell be able to judge what carriages will be wanting which yuell add to my Letter wt ye time when required and the Carriages may proceed night and day till they arrive at perth. Ys from Sr Your humble Sert

And Fletcher.

To Walter Grosett Esqr.

[Pg 400]

Extract of the REPORT of Sir Everard Fawkener, Secretary to H.R.H. the Duke, and of John Sharpe, Esqr., Solicitor to the Treasury, to the Right Honble. the Lords Commissioners thereof relating to Mr. Grosett’s Services to the Government in the late Rebellion.

May it please Your Lordships

In obeidience to your Lordships Commands we have Examd. the two Accompts of Walter Grosett Esqr. and from the Certificate of the Lord Justice Clerk and all the Generals who Commanded in Scotland, relating to these Accompts, it appears to us, that Mr. Grosett was employed in the following Service of the Government, from the first breaking out of the Rebellion to the Suppression thereof, Vizt.

That upon the Rebells at Pearth having formed a designe to surprize Edinburgh by getting across the River Forth in Boats and vissibly[638] as they had done in the year 1715, Mr. Grosett with the assistance of the Kings Sloops and Boats stationed at Dunbar, Leith, and Several other places on the Coast, and which were put under his Directions as a Justice of the Peace, removed all the Ships, Boats and Vessells from the North to the South side of the Forth, notwithstanding of the Rebells being at that time in possession of the North side of that River, and thereby prevented their putting in Execution what they had projected as aforesaid.

That he was almost constantly Employed in disapointing the designs of the Rebells, getting inteligence of their motions, and giving inteligence thereof to the Generals Officers both before and after the Battle of Prestonpans.

That he conducted an Attempt for releasing several[Pg 401] Officers who were in the Custody of the Rebells, and had been made prisoners at the Battle of Prestonpans, in which he succeeded.

That upon the Rebells sudden retraite from England, Mr. Grosett was employed by Lord Justice Clerk and Genl. Guest, to get the Troops transported in the most Expeditious manner from Stirling, and the Cannon from on Board the Ships at Borrowstonness to Edinburgh, for the defence thereof, the Rebells being at this time within a days march of that Town and by which means they were prevented from getting again possession of that important place.

That he on Several occasions provided Vessells, rais’d the well Affected Country people, embarked Souldiers, and conducted Several Expeditions upon the Forth, to surprize the Rebells and retard their intended Siege of Stirling Castle, in which he succeeded; as also in destroying by the Dukes Command, the Magazines belonging to the Rebells on the North side of the Forth and who on that occasion took several of the Rebells prisoners and sent them to his R.H. then at Stirling.

That he procured several Boats and Vessells to attend ye Army with provisions and other necessary’s as it march’d along the Coaste, to attack the Rebells at Culloden (where his younger Brother Captain Grosett was barbarously murdered) he also procured Pilotts to go with Commodore Smith to the Orkneys to prevent the Rebells there joining these at Culloden, and assisted Lord Justice Clerk in procuring whatever was found necessary for the Army, and for the Service of the Governmt. at the Critical Juncture.

That Mr. Grosett was appointed by His Grace the Duke of Newcastle to transact the Affairs of the Government in Scotland relating to the Rebellion, and to find out and collect the Evidence against the Rebells, and to keep a constant Corespondence with His Grace and Mr. Sharpe in all such matters as might require it, with assurance that the expense thereof, and of the Witnesses sent up to Town shd. be defrayed, and that care would be taken of his having a Suitable Satisfaction for his trouble.

[Pg 402]

That it appears to us from the Certificate of the Lord Justice Clerk, that Mr. Grosett being employed on behalf of the Governt. from the first breaking out of the Rebelling, and his Acting in so open and remarkable a manner in the Service of the Government, created against him the particular ill will of the Jacobites and their adherents, who on that Acct. took every opertunity of shewing their resentment against him, they Plundered his House in Town and in the Country, and carried of Effects to a very great Value, they drove all the Cattle from of his Estate, forced the payment of the Rents thereof to them, Stript his Wife and Children of the very Cloaths they had on, and used them otherwise in a moste inhumain manner.

That as to the Several Sums charged for Expenses in those Services, Mr. Grosett has not in any of his accompts charged anything for the Extraordinary trouble and fatigue he underwent, but only for the sums he actually expended, and tho’ he has advanced above £5000 in these Services he has not charged the Governmt. anything on the Head of Interest.

Upon the whole it appears to us, that during the late unfortunate rebellion, Mr. Grosett was employed in several services of the greatest trust and confidence, and which required great prudence, resolution and activity in the execution of them, and that he executed the same, with great care, exactness and ability and that he continued his services to the government after the suppression of the rebellion with equal ardour, zeal, activity and dilligence, and in the whole of his behaviour, he appeared to us to be actuated as much by his affection to the government as the duties of his office, and with regard to the articles of his accounts which remain unpaid and which amount to the sum of 3709£ 11s. we apprehend them reasonable, and therefore certify your Lordships that the said sum of 3709£ 11s. appears to us to be justified, due to him for the sums expended by him in the services aforesaid.

(Signed) Everard Fawkener.
John Sharpe.

6th February 1749.

[Pg 403]


[Pg 405]

A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLES OF PRESTON, FALKIRK, AND CULLODEN; BY ANDREW LUMISDEN, THEN PRIVATE SECRETARY TO PRINCE CHARLES; BY A GENTLEMAN WHO WAS IN THESE ACTIONS

OF THE BATTLE OF PRESTON, OR GLADESMUIR,

fought September 21st, 1745

Intelligence having been brought to the Prince, that Lieutenant General Cope, commander in chief of the government forces in Scotland, was landed at Dunbar, with the troops he embarked at Aberdeen, and was joined by Hamilton and Gardiner’s dragoons, he resolved to march directly and attack him.

Accordingly on the 20th September, in the morning, the Prince put himself at the head of the army at Dudingston, and presenting his sword said—‘My friends I have flung away the scabbard.’ This was answered by a chearful huzza.

The army marched till they gained the top of Carberryhill, from whence we observed the enemy drawn up on the plain below, in order of battle. We continued the march along the brow of the hill, till we were opposite to the front of, and at half a miles distance from the enemy. Here the Highlanders gave a shout, by way of defiance, and nothing less than authority could restrain them from coming immediately to action.

Several officers were sent, particularly Colonel Ker of Gradane, to reconnoitre the enemy’s camp. They reported that General Cope had got into a fastness, where it was impossible to attack him, without risking the loss of the whole army: That his right was drawn up to the high[Pg 406] walls of the gardens of Preston, where he had made several breaches to retire into, if needful: The house of Seton and a small morass on the left: An inclosure not half a gun shot over, surrounded with a ditch three or four feet deep, and five or six broad, covered his front; which made two ditches of that breadth and depth to pass: And the sea was in his rear, at no great distance from him: His canons and coehorns were planted on a high way that led to Tranent, between the above inclosure and morass. Thus his front was to the south, his rear to the north, his right to the west, and his left to the east.

In this situation what was to be done? It was about two o’clock in the after-noon. The Prince made several movements to amuse the enemy, and placed guards on the several roads that led to their camp. In the mean time General Cope discharged several canon at us, but without effect.

At twilight the Prince drew off his men, and marched to Tranent. From hence he detached Lord Nairne, with 500 men, to guard the road that led from Preston to Edinburgh, to prevent Cope from marching thither. On the other hand General Cope, afraid that the Prince should have directed his march eastwards, altered his disposition, and faced east, having now the morass in front; and his troops were thus disposed. General Hamilton’s dragoons were on his right, and Colonel Gardiners on his left. The regiment of Lascelle’s and Murray, with five companies of Lees and four of Guises formed the center. And his second line consisted of three companies of the Earl of Loudun’s regiment, two of Lord John Murray’s, a body of Monros, and a great number of recruits for regiments abroad. Amounting in all to about 2000 foot, and 700 dragoons.

As it was now dark, the Prince ordered the army to march and to take possession of the ground on the south east of the morass which they did, at about half canon shot of the enemy. We continued under arms in the order of march, observing the greatest silence, so that Cope did not perceive where we were.

[Pg 407]

About three o’clock of the morning of the 21st, orders were sent to Lord Nairne to draw off his guards and join the Prince, which he immediately did. The disposition of the attack being made, the Prince addressed his army in these words—‘Follow me, gentlemen, by the assistance of God, I will this day make you a free and happy people.’ The right wing was commanded by the Duke of Perth, Lieutenant General, and consisted of the Macdonalds of Clanranald, Glengary, Keppoch and Glenco, and Grants of Glenmoriston. The left wing was commanded by Lord George Murray, Lieutenant-General, and consisted of the Camerons of Lochiel, Stuarts of Appin, and two companies of Macgregors. The second line was commanded by Lord Nairne, Major-General, and consisted of Athole-men, Robertsons of Strouan, Maclauchlans, and the Duke of Perth’s men. About 25 gentlemen, and their servants, a horse-back, formed a sort of corps de reserve. The whole army consisted of about 2200 men.

We marched chearfully on. The Duke of Perth was conducted by a gentleman, of the name of Anderson, by a ford through the above morass; where 100 men could have prevented our passage: it was so difficult that every step the men made they sunk to the knee in mud. This made them pass in some disorder, but not being observed, by means of the darkness, they formed again as they passed the morass. But the Duke of Perth, in place of inclining to the enemy’s left, to avoid being seen by them before all our men were passed, marched towards the sea: so when our left gained the plain, Lord George Murray found that he was nearer the enemy than the Duke of Perth was. However, day beginning to break the attack was ordered.

The highlanders, pulling off their bonnets and looking up to heaven, made a short prayer, and ran forward. In advancing Lord George Murray observed, that by the turn of the morass, there was a great interval between his left and the ditch of the before mentioned inclosure: he therefore ordered the Camerons to incline that way, in order to take it up, to prevent being flanked by the enemy’s[Pg 408] dragoons. By this movement there became a considerable interval in the center, which the 2d line was ordered to fill up. We were now discovered by the enemy, who played their artillery furiously upon our left; yet only one private man was killed, and one officer wounded. The highlanders ran on with such eagerness that they immediately seized the canon. The dragoons on right and left made a very regular fire, which was followed by close platoons of all their infantry, which our men received with great intrepidity. But what by the huzzas of the highlanders, and their fire which was very brisk, the dragoons were immediately thrown into disorder, which occasioned some confusion among their foot. The highlanders threw down their muskets, drew their swords, and carried all before them like a torrent: so that in seven or eight minutes both horse and foot were totally routed, and drove from the field of battle.

The Prince during the action was on foot in the 2d line. He was with great difficulty prevailed on not to attack with the first line in so much that the officers refused to march if he insisted on it. As soon as the victory declared for him, he mounted his horse and put a stop to the slaughter, calling out,—‘make prisoners: spare them, spare them, they are my father’s subjects.’

When General Cope saw how things were going, and that he could not rally his forces, he, with about 350 dragoons, and some volunteer officers, gained Carberryhill, by a road that led to it from Preston, and, as we had not time, nor horse to pursue, got away undisturbed to Lauder, and from thence to Berwick.

As our 2d line had no occasion to engage, it may with justice be said, that 1400 highlanders, unsupported by horse or canon, routed a regular army of 2000 foot and 700 dragoons, defended by a fine train of artillery, and obtained a most compleat victory. Such is the impetuosity of a highland attack!

We took all the enemys canon, coehorns, small arms, colours, standards, drums, tents, baggage and military chest, in which was about 3000l. [Pg 409]11s.

Of the enemy were killed about 500, wounded 400, and taken prisoners 1400. Among the prisoners were about 80 officers.

Our loss was very inconsiderable, viz. killed 2 captains, 1 Lieutenant, 1 ensign, and about 30 private men; and wounded 6 officers, and 70 private men.

All care immaginable was taken of the wounded, plenty of able surgeons having been provided for that purpose.

The Prince lay this night at Pinkie, and next day the 22d returned to the palace of Holyroodhouse, and the army encamped again at Duddingston.

OF THE BATTLE OF FALKIRK,

fought January 17th, 1746

Lieutenant General Hawley, having been declared commander in chief in place of Sir John Cope, marched from Edinburgh to raise the siege of Stirling Castle, with about 10000 foot and 3 regiments of dragoons, and encamped a little to the westward of Falkirk.

On the 16th the Prince drew up his army in line of battle, on a muir or plain, a mile south east of the house of Bannockburn, then his head quarters, and made all the necessary dispositions, in case the enemy should have advanced to attack him. But Hawley continued all day in his camp, and in the evening the Prince ordered his men to their quarters.

Early next morning, the 17th, the Prince ordered his men to draw up on the same plain. The right wing, commanded by Lord George Murray, consisted of the Macgregors, Macdonalds of Keppoch, Clanronald, Glengary, and Glenco, Mackintoshes and Farquharsons. The left, commanded by Lord John Drummond, consisted of the Camerons of Lochiel, Stuarts of Appin, Macphersons of Cluny, Frazers of Lovat, and Macleods of Raza and Bernera. The 2d line, commanded by Brigadier-General Stappleton, consisted of the regiments of the Duke of[Pg 410] Athole, Earl of Cromarty, Lord Lewis Gordon, and Lord Ogilvy. Lords Elcho and Balmerino with the Prince’s horse-guards, consisting of about 80 gentlemen and their servants, were placed on the right wing, between the first and second lines. Lords Pitsligo and Strathallan with the Aberdeen and Perth-shire squadrons of horse, and a few hussars, making about the same number, were placed in like manner on the left. The Irish pickets were placed immediately behind the 2d line as a corps de reserve. The whole making about 7000 foot, and 160 horse.

The regiments of the Duke of Perth, Lord John Drummond, Gordon of Glenbucket, and John Roy Stuart were left at Stirling to guard the trenches and push on the siege, being about 1000 men. The Duke of Perth, who commanded the siege, and John Roy Stuart were allowed to join the army to assist in the action: and the care of the siege was left to Major-General Gordon of Glenbucket.

About midday the Prince, finding that Hawley did not advance, resolved in a council of war to march and attack him. The army therefore marched in order of battle, in two columns, keeping always an equal distance of about 200 yards. This saved a great deal of time, and prevented confusion, when we came within sight of the enemy. Lord George Murray took the road to the south of the Torwood, as the highway leading from Stirling to Falkirk was too narrow. At the same time Lord John Drummond went with most of the horse to reconnoitre the enemy; and made a movement as intending to march the highway through the Torwood.

The army crossed the water of Carron at Dunipace. By this time the enemy were perceived to be in motion. We therefore quickened our march to gain the top of the hill, about a mile south of the town of Falkirk, and a little more from Hawley’s camp.

General Hawley’s disposition seems to have been thus. On his right were the Argyleshire militia, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Campbell, the regiments of foot of Ligonier, Price and Sinclair: on his left Ligonier, Cobham and Hamilton’s dragoons; the regiments of foot[Pg 411] of Wolfe, Cholmondly and Pulteney. The 2d line was made up of the regiments of foot of Blackney, Monro, Flemming, Barret and Battereau. The Glasgow and some other militia, and Howard’s regiment of foot formed a corps de reserve.

Mr. Hawley, afraid lest the Prince intended to march south, and not come to an action, ordered the dragoons to advance with all expedition, to take possession of the hill, and to keep us in play till the infantry should come up. When they came within canon shot, they made a motion to attack our right in flank, which Lord George Murray perceiving he, with the assistance of Colonel John Roy Stuart, made a very quick motion till he gained a morass, by which he saved being flanked. So our right was to the east, our left west, and front north. The dragoons seeing their scheme thus disappointed, advanced on a full trot, in order to break us; but the Macgregors and Macdonalds, keeping up their fire till they were within pistol shot, received them so briskly, that they were immediately broken, and thrown into the utmost confusion. As the enemy’s foot were now very near, the dragoons could not easily retreat back, without breaking their own line: they therefore gallopped along our line, whereby a vast number of them were killed. This beginning greatly inspirited our men, as it had a contrary effect on the enemy.

Scarcely had the dragoons got off when their infantry advanced to make the attack. They greatly out-lined us on the left, as we out-lined them on the right. Our left extended little farther than to their center. But from the unequality of the ground, being interspersed with risings and hollows, whereby there was no seeing from right to left what was doing, neither of the parties reaped advantage from that circumstance. The enemy’s right therefore attacked our left with a very close fire, which the Camerons and Stuarts received with great fortitude, drew their swords, broke and pursued them out of the field. Then our left made a halt in order to be joined by the right; but were again attacked by other two regiments[Pg 412] in flank, whom they also immediately broke. Our right, marching down the hill, fell in with the Glasgow militia, whom they severely chastised.

The Prince, who was mostly in the center, and whose attention was turned to all parts, observing some regiments of the enemys foot, and the remainder of the dragoons, marching up the hill, put himself at the head of the Irish pickets, and such of the scattered highlanders as were nearest to him, with a few gentlemen a horse-back, and advanced to attack them. But seeing the order of the pickets, and having a great storm of wind and rain in their faces, they fled precipitantly to their camp, as did all the rest of their troops.

As the action began late in the afternoon, it was now dark, the storm still continuing. However, the Prince made all the dispatch immaginable to put his troops in order, as he intended to beat the enemy from their camp. But hardly were the half of our men drawn together, when we observed many fires in Hawley’s camp, and his men at the same time marching, with great hurry, between the camp and town of Falkirk. We immediately conjectured that they were burning their camp (which they indeed endeavoured, but were prevented by the rain) and were to take possession of the town of Falkirk. Had they taken this course, a few men properly posted could have hindered the highlanders from entering that night, and obliged us either to have abandoned the field of battle, or to have stood all night under arms, wet and fatigued as we were, and exposed to the inclemency of the weather, a thing impossible.

Mr. Drummond, now Lord Strathallan, and Mr. Oliphant younger of Gask, disguised in peasants dress, went into the town to reconnoitre, and to get intelligence of the enemy. They soon returned with information, that they were flying in confusion to Linlithgow. The Prince immediately ordered his men to march, and attack them in the rear. As we marched we fell on the enemy’s canon, which they had left between the field of battle and the town: they could not draw them up the hill, on account of the[Pg 413] badness of the roads; so they were of no use to them in the action.

The enemy’s rear were just got to the east end of the town, when Lord John Drummond entered it on that side: he was shot throw the arm by a soldier, whom he was taking prisoner. Lord George Murray entered at the middle, and Lochiel at the west end of the town.

Our men had no sooner entered the town than they disappeared on all sides; every one putting himself under cover to dry his cloaths; and refresh himself after the fatigue of the day: and altho a detachment of 1000 men were ordered to pursue the enemy, yet, such is the misfortune of an irregular army! not 50 could be brought together, besides those absolutely necessary to mount the guards for the Prince and their own safeties. So the enemy never stopped till they got to Linlithgow, and some of their volunteers and dragoons to Edinburgh.

The Prince’s first care next morning was to send to reconnoitre the field of battle, and cause bury the dead, as well those of the enemy as his own men. Some of their officers that could be distinguished, of whom were Sir Robert Monroe and Colonel Whitney, were brought down to the town, and interred in the same manner as our own officers were.

It now appeared that about 600 of the enemy were killed on the field of battle, and that we had made about 700 prisoners.

We got all their artillery consisting of 7 large pieces of brass canon, and 3 iron ones, several mortars and coehorns, with a great many shells, all their ammunition, waggons, tents, 3 standards, 2 stand of colours, a kettle drum, many small arms, baggage, and generally every thing that the rain prevented them from burning.

On our side were killed 3 captains, 4 subaltern officers, and about 40 private men: and we had wounded near double that number.

[Pg 414]

OF THE BATTLE OF CULLODEN,

fought April 16TH, 1746

As soon as certain intelligence was brought that the Duke of Cumberland had begun his march from Aberdeen northwards, the Prince sent orders to Ross, Sutherland, Lochaber, and Badenoch, that all the detachments of his army, in these places, should join him immediately at Inverness.

The Duke of Cumberland passed the Spey on the 13th, and on the 14th encamped at Nairn, about 10 miles from Culloden. On this the Prince assembled his men in and about Inverness, and marched at their head to Culloden-house, where he lay that night, and the troops encamped in the Parks.

Early next morning, the Prince drew up his army in line of battle, upon Drummossie muir, south of the house and parks of Culloden, as he expected that the Duke of Cumberland would have attacked him that day, being his birth-day.

About noon, when we were informed that he had not moved, it was proposed to the Prince to make a night attack upon him, in his camp at Nairn. Various were the reasons for and against this proposal. And after considering them fully, the Prince approved of the project, as the most probable chance he had of beating the enemy; provided they could be surprised by one o’clock of the morning.

We must here observe, that the Duke of Cumberland’s army was double the number of ours, plentifully provided with money and provisions of all kinds; having a squadron of ships, loaded with stores, that coasted along, from Aberdeen to Inverness, in sight of his army, to supply him with whatever was necessary. Whereas our military chest was spent; the men had not received pay for some time, had got no provisions this day but a single bisket each, and were much fatigued by severe duty.

[Pg 415]

In this situation the Prince could not propose to keep his army together. He was obliged either to fight or starve. And altho above 3000 men, under the command of the Earl of Cromarty, Macdonald of Barisdale, Macgregor of Glengyle, Cluny Macpherson, and others, who were expected every hour, had not yet joined, he resolved to risk the event of an engagement.

The night attack being therefore agreed to, was to have been executed thus. One third of the army, commanded by Lord George Murray, were to have passed the water of Nairn, two miles below Culraick, and two from Nairn, to have attacked the enemy on the south east near to the sea; whilst the other two thirds, under the command of the Duke of Perth and his brother Lord John Drummond, were to have attacked them on the plain, from the north east and all the way to the sea, so as to have joined those who were to have attacked on the other side.

That our design might not be discovered by the enemy, the march began about eight o’clock at night. Lord George Murray led the van. He had along with him, besides several gentlemen volunteers and officers, 30 men of the Mackintoshes, who lived in that very country, as guides. They conducted him the moor road, that he might not fall in with the enemy’s patrolls; and small parties were stationed at proper distances to prevent the enemy from receiving any intelligence.

As the highlanders had often marched more than two miles in an hour, it was hoped that they could have reached Nairn before two o’clock. But before Lord George had marched a mile, he received a message that the half of the line was at a considerable distance, and orders to halt, or march slower, till the line should join. He received many messages by aides-de-camps and other officers, sent for the same purpose, by the time he had reached six miles. Altho he did not halt, he marched always slower, hoping that would do: For he knew that a halt in the van occasions a greater one in the rear, when the march begins again; whereas by marching slow, the rear might have joined without that inconveniency.

[Pg 416]

It was already near two o’clock in the morning, and the van near four miles from the enemy. Most of the officers of distinction were now come up to the front; particularly the Duke of Perth, Lord John Drummond, Lochiel and his brother, and M. oSulivan. The Duke of Perth told Lord George Murray that unless he made a halt the center and rear columns could not join. We halted. Here the officers began to examine their present situation. They were of opinion, that by the time the line had joined, and the army advanced two miles farther, it would be day light, and consequently the enemy would have time to point their canon, draw up their men, and place their horse so as to act in the most advantagious manner. Besides, a great number of our men had left their ranks and lain down in the wood of Culraick, which must have proceeded from faintness for want of food, and not from the fatigue of a six miles march. In these circumstances the attack was judged impracticable. To get back to Culloden, so as the men could have some hours refreshment, in case they should be obliged to fight that day, was what they agreed to.

As the Prince was about a mile behind in the rear, and the road through the wood very difficult to pass, they thought it would consume too much time to send back for orders, Lord George Murray therefore ordered the retreat. The Duke of Perth went back to acquaint the Prince with this resolution. At first he seemed much surprised, on which the Duke offered to march back the men; but after some reflection, he saw it was then too late.

We marched back the shortest way, as we had not the same reason for shuning houses in returning as we had in advancing.

The van had only got to the Church of Cray, that is two miles from where the halt was made, when it was broad day light. This showed that the enemy could not have been surprised as was intended. However, had the center and rear marched as quick as the van, it might certainly have been done.

[Pg 417]

Between 5 and 6 o’clock, all the army reached Culloden: But many, as well officers as soldiers went to Inverness and places adjacent, in quest of provisions, which were difficult to find.

The Prince had scarcely reposed himself an hour, when accounts were brought, that the enemy was in full march to attack him. He immediately sent aid-de-camps to bring up the men, who were at Inverness. In the mean time he marched up the troops that were about Culloden to Drummossie muir; but half a mile nearer than where they were formed the preceeding day.

This was our order of battle. The right wing, commanded by Lord George Murray, consisted of his own regiment of Athol, Camerons of Lochiel, Stuarts of Appin, one battallion of the Frazers of Lovat, and the Mackintoshes. The left wing, commanded by the Duke of Perth, consisted of the Macdonalds of Glengary, Keppoch and Clanranald, two companies of Macleans, two companies of Macleods, and the Farquharsons. The 2d line, commanded by Lord John Drummond and Major General Stappleton, consisted of the Irish piquets, the regiments of Lord Ogilvy, Lord Lewis Gordon, Duke of Perth, and Lord John Drummond. On the right wing, behind the 2d line, was a troop of Fitz-james’s horse; and on the left the horse guards, Perth-shire squadron and Hussards. The regiments of the Earl of Kilmarnock’s foot guards, and Colonel John Roy Stuart, with such of our men as had no guns formed a sort of reserve.

The whole did not exceed 6000 foot and 150 horse. We had six pieces of canon, two placed on the right, two on the left, and two in the center of the front line. Our front was to the east.

The Duke of Cumberland drew up his army in three lines. The first, commanded by Lieutenant-General the Earl of Albemarle, consisted of the regiments of Barrel, Monro, Scot’s Fusileers, Price, Cholmondley and Sinclair. The 2d, commanded by Major General Huske, consisted of the regiments of Wolfe, Ligonier, Sempil, Bligh, and Flemming. The [Pg 418]3d line, commanded by Brigadier Mordant, consisted of the regiments of Blackeney, Battereau, Pulteney and Howard. On the right wing were placed Cobham’s dragoons, and the half of Kingston’s horse, with the Campbells of Argyle.

Had these regiments been all compleat, they should have amounted to 15000 men, but as they were they surely amounted to near 12000 foot and 1200 horse. Ten pieces of canon were placed in the first line, two between each regiment; and six pieces in the 2d line.

The enemy formed at a considerable distance, and marched in order of battle. About two o’clock afternoon the canonading began.

The Prince, after riding along the lines to animate the men, placed himself about the center, that he might the more conveniently give his orders. The enemy’s canon galled us much. One of the Prince’s servants, who led a sumpter horse, was killed at his side.

We were greatly out-lined both on right and left. Some alterations were made in our disposition in order to remedy this. Our right was covered by some old park walls, that led towards the water of Nairn. The Campbells got behind these walls, pulled them down, and placed a battery of canon, which did great execution on our right.

The Prince ordered to begin the attack. Our men attacked with all the fury imaginable, and made several impressions on the enemys line; particularly the Athol-men broke entirely the regiments of Barret and Monro, and took possession of two pieces of canon. But the enemy keeping a close hedge fire, overpowering us with numbers, and attacking us on both flanks, threw our lines into great confusion, and at last obliged us to quit the field. The Duke of Cumberland was likewise assisted by a great storm of hail and rain that blew in our faces.

The Prince did all he could to rally his men, but to no purpose. He was therefore obliged to retire. He crossed the water of Nairn at the ford on the high way between Inverness and Corryburgh, and then went to Lord Lovats. The greatest part of the army went to Ruthven in Badennoch.

[Pg 419]

As we had not afterwards an opportunity of reviewing our men, we cannot exactly say what loss we sustained in the action. By the enemy’s account we lost 2000 men, and they 300. But there is reason to think, that on the one side they magnify, and on the other diminish the numbers.

‘Cum rectè factorum sibi quisque gratiam trahat, unius invidiâ ab omnibus peccatur.’ Tac. Ann. 1. 3 c. 53.


[Pg 421]

APPENDIX I
THE JACOBITE LORD SEMPILL

Mr. Fitzroy Bell, in a note to Murray’s Memorials (p. 42), relates that he had been unable to discover who this Jacobite Lord Sempill was. The researches of the Marquis de Ruvigny among the Stuart Papers, published in the Jacobite Peerage, make his identity quite clear. Francis Sempill was the son and heir of Robert Sempill, an officer in the French army. In 1712 this Robert Sempill received from the court of St. Germains a ‘Declaration of Noblesse,’ which stated that he ‘is grandson of the late Hugh, Lord Sempill, Peer of Scotland and sole heir-male of the property and the ancient title of the said lord, whose fourth son, Archibald, father of the said Robert, is the only one who left any living male child.’ On the 16th of July 1723 he appears as Mr. Robert Sempill, Captain of the Regiment of Dillon. He died at Paris intestate. In the documents of probate he is termed ‘Robert, Lord Sempill, alias Robert Sempill.’ On the strength of the title given to him in this reference, the Marquis de Ruvigny states that after 1723, when he was termed simply ‘Mr. Robert Sempill,’ he ‘seems after that date to have been created by James III. and VIII. a lord and peer of Parliament.’ This assumption has also been made by Mr. Fitzroy Bell, Mr. Andrew Lang, and other recent writers, but there is no evidence of any new creation, nor indeed was there any necessity for it. Robert Sempill the soldier had received in 1712 the declaration that he was entitled to the ancient title, but apparently had not used it. It seems natural to believe that his son Francis, who on the death of the father would prepare the probate papers, inserted in them the title of lord, to which the Declaration of 1712 said his father was entitled, and that on succeeding he assumed the title which his father had not used.

The following table shows the relationship of the Jacobite Lord Sempill with the nobleman who bore the same title in Scotland. He fought at Culloden and died the same year at Aberdeen (see p. 164).

[Pg 422]

Geneology of Lord Sempill

APPENDIX II
MURRAY OF BROUGHTON AND THE BISHOPRIC OF EDINBURGH

At the Revolution there were eight hundred and seven parishes in Scotland filled by ministers of the Episcopal Church. On the accession of William and Mary and the Abolition of Episcopacy and the Establishment of the Presbyterian Church, all the bishops refused the Oath to the new Sovereigns, and a large number of the clergy left their parishes for the same reason.

At first there was much toleration, but as the bishops and the Episcopal clergy were all Non-jurors and maintained their allegiance to the exiled Stuart kings, they gradually became a Jacobite institution. Although very feeble, they were torn with internal dissension both doctrinal and ecclesiastical. As the pre-Revolution bishops died out, it was thought necessary in order to keep up the succession to consecrate new bishops, but this had to be done with utmost secrecy.

At first these bishops were appointed bishops at large without any diocese or territorial jurisdiction, and were known as the College of Bishops, but gradually the clergy demanded some sort of superintendence. Bishops were consecrated by one party and by others, but all on the understanding that they owed allegiance to the Stuart king. To avoid scandal the Jacobite managers and the Jacobite Court insisted that when bishops were elected the king should be informed so as to give congé d’élire before consecration. This power was afterwards compromised by the exiled king permitting the clergy to select all the bishops except the metropolitans of St. Andrews and[Pg 423] Glasgow, and a Bishop of Edinburgh who might have to act as metropolitan under the title of Vicar-General of St. Andrews.

In the year 1741 John Murray, as Agent in Scotland for the Jacobite Court, sent up the name of William Harper, who was incumbent of St. Paul’s Non-juring Episcopal Church in Carrubber’s Close. He was well connected, being married to a daughter of Sir David Thriepland of Fingask, and he was also principal adviser to most of the prominent Jacobites of the time.

Some of the bishops did not want him, and Bishop Keith represented to the Chevalier through Murray that Harper was an objectionable person, and implored the king to withdraw his congé d’élire. Mr. Harper retired from the contest.

After much negotiation John Murray, apparently with the concurrence of the majority of the bishops, fixed upon Bishop Rattray as a man likely from his age and rank to put an end to the dissensions; and James sent from Rome a congé de lire to elect him Bishop of Edinburgh, apparently with certain metropolitan powers. Rattray, however, died a few days after this permission was received, and the see was not filled until 1776.

Bishop Rattray was a Perthshire laird, the head of the ancient family of Rattray of Craighall. His son John acted as surgeon to Prince Charles throughout the campaign of 1745-46. A volume recently published, A Jacobite Stronghold of the Church, by Mary E. Ingram (Edinburgh, 1907), gives much information about William Harper and the Episcopal Church in Jacobite times.


APPENDIX III
SIR JAMES STEUART

Sir James Steuart (afterwards Steuart Denham) of Goodtrees and Coltness, second baronet. His father had been Solicitor-General, and his grandfather Lord Advocate, and both belonged to the party of the Covenanters. Sir James was born in 1712, and in 1743 he married Lady Frances, daughter of the fourth Earl of Wemyss, and sister of Lord Elcho, one of the Jacobite leaders of the ’Forty-five. When Prince Charles came to Edinburgh, Sir James joined his Court, and he is the reputed author of some of the Prince’s manifestos. In the autumn of 1745 he was sent to France as the Prince’s agent.

[Pg 424]

In the Stuart Papers there is a document headed ‘A Copy of Sir James Stewart’s powers, Dec. 29, 1746.’

‘Nous Charles Prince de Galles Regent des Royaumes d’Angleterre, d’Ecosse, etc. jugeant qu’il est notre service dans la conjouncture presente de charger de nos affaires auprès de Sa Majesté très-chretienne une personne instruite de nos intentions nous avons choisi le Chevalier Baronet Stuart auquel nous avons donné et donnons pouvoir, commission, et mandement special de traitter et negotier avec les ministres de Sa Majesté [très-chrètienne] arrester, conclure et signer avec eux tous les articles ou conventions qu’il avisera bon être.... Fait a Paris ce 29 Decembre 1746.’

This seems to be a copy of the credential which he received in Edinburgh, and which, probably for precautionary reasons, he did not carry with him in case of being captured and searched. The whole commission is printed among the Stuart Papers in Browne’s History of the Highlands, vol. iii. p. 472.

Sir James was specially excepted from the Act of Indemnity of 1747. He wandered on the Continent until 1763, when he was permitted to return to Scotland. He received a pardon in 1771, and died in 1780. He was author of Inquiry into the Principles of Political Economy (1767), and other works. There is information about his Jacobite career in the narratives of his brother-in-law, Lord Elcho, recently published, also a long biography in The Coltness Collections, in which every effort is made to ignore or minimise his Jacobitism.

There was something mysterious both about his joining the Jacobite Court and about his departure from Scotland. Robert Chambers, in his History of the Rebellion, chap. xxiv., relates, upon the authority of Sir Henry Steuart of Allanton, Sir James’s near relative, the story of his joining the Prince at Holyrood, which may be told in Chambers’s own words.

‘Descended of a whig family, Sir James had, nevertheless, allowed himself, in the course of his travels, to form an intimacy with the Stuart princes and some of their principal adherents. He had more lately been piqued at the treatment he had received at an election from one of the officers of the government. He was disposed to join the enterprise of the Prince, but wished that, in doing so, he should not appear quite a free agent. His sister’s husband, the Earl of Buchan, a good man, of moderate understanding, was brought by him to the same views, and they agreed with Lady Steuart’s brother, Lord Elcho, that they should be seized in a public place, and carried to Holyrood House, as if against their will. Walking next day at the cross of Edinburgh, Sir James and the earl were seized accordingly, and conducted to the palace. There a message was sent from an anteroom to the Chevalier, mentioning their[Pg 425] presence. The Prince, who in the meanwhile had heard of the manner of their visit, returned for answer, that if the Earl of Buchan and Sir James Steuart came as willing partisans to befriend his cause, he should be proud and happy to see them, but not otherwise. This bluntness, though honourable to the Prince’s candour, displeased Buchan, whose resolution, perhaps, had already begun to give way. He therefore made a low bow to the officer, and said: “Please inform his royal highness that I have the honour to be his most obedient humble servant”; after which he instantly left the palace. Sir James, too much offended with the government to retrace his steps, remained to see the Prince upon the terms prescribed.’

There was something still more mysterious about his departure. The following depositions were found in the Records of the Sheriff Court of Kincardineshire by Dr. W. A. Macnaughton of Stonehaven,[639] who kindly sent them to me. The depositions were taken from witnesses in a civil action of false imprisonment by James Grant against Alexander Garioch of Mergie. Garioch acted as deputy governor of Stonehaven for Prince Charles. Apparently the authorities took the opportunity of interrogating the Jacobite witnesses about Sir James. The portions of the depositions that refer to Sir James Steuart only are here given.

1. Peter Barclay of Johnstoun[640] ... Being Interrogate concerning Sir James Stewart Depones that some time about the middle of November or a little before it, the Deponent had occasion to be at Stonhyve in a Tavern with Mr. Garioch, that he saw a person who passed under the Name of Brown, and who was called by Mergie to the Deponent a Prisoner, but that there was no guard sett upon him and the Deponent saw him at liberty to go out and in under no confinement that the Deponent could observe, That the Deponent had had occasion about sixteen years before to be in company with Sir James Stewart That when the Deponent saw this person who was called Brown he thought he had seen him before, but could not then recollect who he was That the day after the Deponent had seen this person he was conversing with one Menzies in the French service was enquiring who this person might be and was positive he had seen him before, That Menzies said he did not know who he was, but that some days before Lord Lewis Gordon had been dining with him, and he observed that Lord Lewis was Drinking to this person his health That upon this the Deponent recollected and said he imagined him to be Sir James Stuart, Depones that when that person was ordered to be taken on board of a ffrench ship by Mergie’s command he took a formal protest in waiting against Mergie for forcing him out[Pg 426] of the Kingdom against his will, Being interrogate if he thought it was a serious protest Depones that he did not know what to think of it but was very much surprised at the whole proceeding and that when the Deponent said to Mergie that he judged this person to be Sir James Stuart, Mergie absolutely refused that it was, that this person went down to the Boat in order to embark aboard of the ship which lay at anchor without any guard attending him, Mergie and the Deponent and several others went along with him to the Boat.

4. John Maule[641] Depones that some time in October 1745 a ffrench ship arrived in the Harbour of Stonhyve with some chests of Arms, six pieces of cannon, and other warlike stores, That Mergie received from the Hands of one Black, who called himself Supercargo of the said Ship all these Warlike Instruments, and called in the country to assist in carrying them southwards, Depones that the above mentioned Black went south along with the cargo of Arms etc. which were brought from on board the above mentioned vessel, and returned again in about 2 weeks after he arrived at the Publick House keeped by John Falconer and that there was in his company as the Deponent had occasion to see immediately after his arrival a Gentleman unknown to the Deponent, that when the Deponent enquired at Black who this Person was Black told him he had met with him at Montrose, and believed him to be one of the officers who had been taken Prisoner at the Battle of Prestonpans and had made his Escape That Black desired the Deponent to go to Mergie and inform him that there was such a Gentleman at Mr. Falconer’s house whom he suspected to be an officer of General Cope’s Army who had made his escape, That the deponent delivered this message to Mergie, upon which Mergie came directly up to the Mill of Stonhyve That the Deponent accompanied Mergie with a Guard, That Mergie and Black took the said Person unknown to the Deponent into an Apartment by themselves, and after staying about an Hour returned again and showed to the Deponent a Black Cockade and about sixty or seventy Pistoll shot, which he said he had found upon searching about this unknown Person, and ordered him to be keeped Prisoner, and accordingly a Guard was placed upon the House all that night That next day the Deponent was sent for by Mergie and received orders from him to Remove the Guard which was upon the said unknown person, and to take the Custody and care of him himself, and desired him to keep sight of him and not suffer him to make his Escape, That for two or three days the Deponent keept a pritty watchful eye over the said unknown Gentleman during the daytime and at night there was always a Guard of three or four men placed on the House But after that during his stay in Stonhyve the Deponent sometimes attended the said Gentleman when he walked for his Recreation any distance from the Town but he was left for most part without any guard or attendance That during the time of the said person’s stay at Stonhyve Mergie was frequently in company with him at Dinner and Supper and frequently they were alone[Pg 427] together Depones that one day when the deponent was in the laigh Room of the Mill of Stonhyve he heard this unknown Gentleman and the first and second Master of the abovementioned French ship in company in the Room immediately above, That the Deponent heard them laughing and very merry together, that they were speaking ffrench and so loud that if the deponent had understood it, he might have heard what they said very well, That after the abovementioned Company above stairs had parted, the Deponent met with the second master of the French vessel and asked him how it came about that he was so very familiar and so free in the Company of that gentleman who was a Prisoner, Oh! said the master in English which he spoke very well, you are quite mistaken, this is one of our own friends, Depones that to the best of the Deponent’s remembrance this Person staid in town about eight or ten days, that when the Ship was ready to sail Mergie signed a formal Warrand for Transporting him in the said ship to France, and a Guard was placed in order to convey him to the Boat, That the said Person took a formal protest agt. Mergie for sending him out of the Kingdom against his Will, and being Interrogate if he understood the said Protest to be serious Depones that he did not know what to think of it and was very much surprised when he considered of all the proceedings in relation to this person from first to last, how he was upon his first arrival under a strick Guard afterwards very much at Liberty and last of all formally sent aboard of the ship to be transported seemingly against his will, That when this Person was going into the Boat and taking his leave of other people upon the shoar he came up to the deponent and embracing him very kindly, told him that he was very sensible of his civilities, and would represent his good Behaviour to people that he did not then think of, Depones that he remembers when this person was in Stonhyve, there was an attempt made by the Ludlow Castle, a Ship belonging to the King’s Navy, to force the harbour by her boat with about fifty men or thereby, That upon this Occasion the unknown person above mentioned was very active in assisting and directing the French crew about the manner of Planting their Battery and Defending the Harbour in which he seemed to have skill, Depones that Mergie at first when this person was committed to the Deponent’s custody charged him to be very strict in his Watch over him, but shortly after desired him to be easy with him and let him go about his business as he pleased Depones that he would know this person if he saw him again But that he knew nothing who he was during the Time of his stay at Stonhyve, that shortly after he heard from people that came from the south that it was Sir James Stewart That a few days after the said person came to Stonhyve Sir Alexander Bannerman came and waited upon him at the Mill of Stonhyve immediately after the Deponent received Orders from Mergie not to be strict in his guard over the said person Depones that when he saw the said Person so very active in giving directions about planting the Cannon against the King’s Boat which attempted the Harbour he did then and not till then suspect that his being a Prisoner was a Farce.

[Pg 428]

6. William Herdman ... Being Interrogate concerning Sir James Stewart Depones that he had occasion to see and be in company sometimes with a Gentleman who was said to be a Prisoner, That for several days after his arrival he was strictly guarded, but after that was left at large to go where he pleased, That one Black who came over as Supercargo on board a French vessel and had gone to the south about three weeks before Returned again in company with this unknown gentleman, That he said he had met with this Gentleman upon the Road but did not know who he was, That the Deponent sincerely believed this gentleman by his behaviour and conversation to be a person well affected to the Government, till the Ludlow Castle, one of His Majesty’s Ships, appeared and attempted to make the Harbour with her long Boat and some men on board, upon which occasion the Deponent observed that this gentleman seemed to be in some hurry and concern and as the Deponent was passing near to the Harbour he saw this gentleman and Mr. Black standing together and heard the said gentleman calling out with an appearance of solicitude and Keenness to the people who were driving down Dung to the shore for Defence of the Harbour, to go faster, or saying something to that purpose which occasioned in the Deponent a strong suspicion that he was in reality in the interest of the Pretender’s Party But after that when he saw him carried down to the ship like a Criminal with a Guard about him, the Deponent was confounded and did not know what to think of it, That sometime thereafter the Deponent heard a Rumor in the Country that it was Sir James Stewart, after that Mergie told him that it was Sir James Stewart and Jocked at his ignorance in Imagining that he was really a Prisoner.

7. John Lawson, Doctor,[642] ... Being Interrogate concerning Sir James Stewart Depones that sometime towards the end of 1745 there arrived a ffrench ship in the Harbour of Stonhyve That one Black who was said to be supercargo of the said ship came and Lodged in the Deponent’s House That shortly after his arrival he went south, and about a fortnight or three weeks thereafter the said Mr. Black returned and arrived at the Mill of Stonhyve and in his company there was an unknown Gentleman who was immediately taken as a Prisoner by Mergie, That the Deponent had occasion to see the said Gentleman about an Hour after his arrival and saw Weileyes (? valise) or a Bagg which the Deponent was told Mergie had searched, and in which nothing was remarkable but a small Duck Bagg with some Pistoll Ball in it and a Black Cockade, That the Deponent observed about three or four days after his arrival he was more at liberty only John Maule Writer in Stonhyve was said always to have him in custody, the Deponent has seen him alone without anybody looking after him, That some days after his arrival Sir Alexr. Bannerman came to Stonhyve Depones that he had a strong Impression from what he heard talked of frequently that this Person’s Confinement was only a Farce, That the Deponent heard some time after the said[Pg 429] Gentleman was put on board the French ship that he was Sir James Stewart of Goodtrees.

8. John Falconer[643] ... Being Interrogate concerning Sir James Stewart Depones that a person unknown to him, said to be a Prisoner of Mergie’s and passed under the name of Brown lodged in his House, that after the first three or four days he was left at Liberty to go where he pleased either upon foot or Horseback upon Parole as the Deponent heard to Mergie, and the Deponent thinks he could have easily made his escape if he had a mind the Deponent has seen him frequently privately in company with Mergie.


APPENDIX IV
THE GUILDHALL RELIEF FUND

This fund, in the distribution of which Walter Grossett was concerned, and of which his brother’s widow and children were the largest beneficiaries, was probably the earliest example of systematic organisation for the supply of comforts to soldiers in the field, to the sick and wounded, and for provision for widows and orphans.

The fund was instituted at the Guildhall, London, on November 27th, 1745, by Sir Richard Hoare, then Lord Mayor. The minute of the first meeting aptly declares the intention of the founders:—

‘We whose names are underwritten, in Consideration of the particular Hardships and Inconveniencies which may be suffer’d by such Soldiers as now are, or shall hereafter be employ’d in his Majesty’s Service during the Winter Season, towards the Suppression of the present unnatural Rebellion, do hereby voluntarily Subscribe and pay the several Sums set by us against our respective Names to be applied towards their Relief, Support, and Encouragement, in such manner, and in such Proportion, as shall be deem’d to be most necessary and expedient by a Committee which shall hereafter be appointed for that Purpose by Us, or the Major Part who shall be present at any General Meeting, pursuant to an Advertisement in the London Gazette.’

The result of the efforts of the Lord Mayor and his associates is recorded in an admirable report printed in 1747.

The report gives a subscription list. There were exactly five hundred subscriptions, and the total amount subscribed was £18,910, 0s. 9d. The largest subscription was that of ‘the[Pg 430] Rt. Hon. Lord Chief Justice, Master of the Rolls, Lord Chief Justice Willes, Lord Chief Baron Parker, and the Honourable Judges, whose gift was £1200; the smallest that of the parish of St. Thomas, Southwark, which gave 10s. 9d. In the List are found subscriptions from the Prince of Wales, £500; the Mayor, Commonalty, and Citizens of the City of London, £1000; Governor and Company of the Bank of England, £1000; John Rich from the Theatre Royal in Covent Garden, £602, 7s.; the Gentlemen Volunteers of the City of London, £523, 19s. The City Companies subscribe sums varying from £100 to £300, and it is interesting to find in the list the name of Isaac Watts, D.D., for a subscription of £5, 5s. The Report, which is an excellent business document, finishes with the following paragraph:—

‘In this Manner your Committee propose that the Conclusion of this Subscription should be agreeable to the Design of its original Institution; since every Calamity you can remove, or every Comfort you can bestow on Behalf of the private Soldier, will be giving them so much new Strength and Vigour to act in Defence of our Liberties, and Support of our Constitution; wherein both Interest and Duty, both publick Safety and publick Charity, may be jointly urged as Motives to your Benevolence. And as to what has already been expended, if Relief under Sickness, if Support under Fatigue, if Encouragement under Dangers, are to be esteemed Acts of Humanity or Beneficence, by how much stronger Ties were we called upon to return such Assistance to those who under the greatest Hazards and Difficulties were protecting us in the Enjoyment of every Thing that was dear and valuable: And your Committee flatter themselves that the Zeal which was exerted on this Occasion, by the Magistrates, Merchants, and other Inhabitants of this Metropolis, contributed no less to dispirit the Enemy, than it did to animate our own Forces, until they obtained that compleat Victory over the Rebels, which so happily preserved the Religion, Laws and Liberties of this Kingdom, the inseparable Blessings of his Majesty’s Government.’

Details of the disbursements of the Fund are given in appendices which are printed below, and are interesting in the present time of war for the sake of comparison with similar modern activities. They are printed from an original copy of the Report in the editor’s possession.

[Appendix No. I. is the List of Subscriptions.]


[Pg 431]

APPENDIX No. II

An Account of the Necessaries contracted for, their Patterns and Price.

STOCKINGS.
Long Hose, furnished by Mr. Stiles, made in Westmoreland, and by him delivered at 12s. per Dozen Pair 10,000 Pair.
(Short Hose.) Collected by Mr. Samuel Handley, in and about London, and by him delivered at the Rate of 11s. 10d. per Dozen Pair, he declining to make any Profit thereby 6,504 Pair.
——————
16,504 Pair.
BREECHES.
Contracted for with Messrs. Fullagar and Allen, to be made of Kersey of the Value of 40s. the Piece, half of them to be red and half blue, of three Sizes, viz. 2ds, 3ds, and 4ths, at the Rate of 3s.d. each Pair, with as good Lining, and of the same Make as the Patterns, delivered in sealed, and all to be strongly and well sewed, the said Pattern to be the largest of the three Sizes; Two Thousand Pair, or upwards, to be delivered each Week, till the Whole was compleated. 15,000 Pair.
——————
SHIRTS.
Contracted for with Messrs. John and Michael Turner, and Mr. Chambers, at the Price of 3s. 6d. each, all to be made of Scawen’s ⅞ Garlick of the same Sort and Goodness, with a seal’d Shirt left as a Pattern; and each Shirt to contain 2 Ells ⅞th of Cloth, and to be made of the same Size, and in as good and strong a Manner as the Pattern Shirt, with the Allowance of 2d. per Shirt for 600 to be made somewhat better, being intended for the Serjeants, 1,500 to be delivered Weekly until the Whole was compleated. 12,000
——————
WOOLLEN CAPS.
Contracted with the above-named Messrs. Fullagar and Allen to be made of the same Make and Size with a sealed Pattern delivered in of blue, red, and green, the same to be of Long Ells, of 12d. the Yard, at the Price of 5d. per Cap, the whole Number to be delivered at Guildhall, on the 1st of January, the Contract bearing Date the 20th of December, 1745 10,000
——————
BLANKETS.
Contracted for with Messrs. Brooks, sen. and jun. of Whitney in Oxfordshire, to be nine Quarters wide, and not above 13s. 6d. per Pair 1,000
——————
WOOLLEN GLOVES.
Furnished by Mr. Stiles, in Westmoreland, and delivered, being of different Sizes, at the Rate of 5s. to 6s. and 2d. per dozen Pair, being the prime Cost, he declining to make any Profit thereby. 12,000 Pair.
——————
WOOLLEN ANKLE SPATTERDASHERS.
Contracted for with the above-named Messrs. Fullagar and Allen to be made of three Sizes agreeable to a seal’d Pattern, both as to the Goodness of the Cloth, and Manner of Sewing and Making, with flat Metal Buttons, and the Straps of Ruffia Drab, of the Price of Eighteen Pence Halfpenny a Pair 9,100 Pair.
——————
[Pg 432]

APPENDIX No. III

Containing an Account of the Distribution of the Sum of 4000l. amongst the Regiments engaged at Culloden, the Number on the Spot, and the Sums allowed to each, according to the Apportionment transmitted by his Royal Highness the Duke.

Regiments. Numbers on the Spot. Sums allowed to each.
Serjts. Corps. Drum. Private. l. s. d.
Royal (1st) 30 37 26 420 265 10 11
Howard (3rd) 24 23 16 493 281 0
Barrell (4th) 20 23 10 365 213 1
Wolfe (8th) 19 22 18 387 225 17
Pulteney (13th) 23 26 18 479 276 5
Price (14th) 22 22 12 339 202 19
Sackville (20th) 23 25 14 464 216 10
Campbell (21st) 22 22 12 336 225 18
Sempil (25th) 20 25 19 487 277 0 11
Blakeney (27th) 25 22 12 336 204 8
Cholmondeley (34th) 22 24 15 433 255 8
Fleming (36th) 26 22 14 376 225 8
Dejean (37th) 23 24 19 474 273 1
Conway (48th) 21 22 16 342 205 6 5
Battereau (disbanded) 24 33 18 384 236 3 1
Argyllshire Men 32 30 9 430 259 13
—— —— —— —— ——
376 402 252 6602 3893 14
Serjts. Bombr. Gunnr. Matross. Drum
Train 1 9 15 67 3 102 8 0
——
£ 3996 2
Overplus 3 17 11¼
——
4000 0 0

N.B.—As the Overplus 3l. 17s. 11¼d. could not be divided amongst the Regiments it was distributed to some few particular Objects.

The above Sums divided in Proportion to the Pay of the several Ranks, give to each Man as follows, viz.

REGIMENTS. | TRAIN.
Serjeant £0 19 | Serjeant £1 18 3
Corporal 0 12 | Bombardier 1 11 11
Drummer and Private Man 0 9 | Gunner 1 5 7
| Matross and Drummer 0 19

APPENDIX No. IV

Containing an Account of the Needy Widows, and Orphans of Officers and Soldiers killed at the Battles of Falkirk and Culloden, who have been relieved by this Subscription.

Widows and Orphans of Officers.
l
To Lieutenant Colonel Whitney’s Widow 100
Major Brown’s Widow 50[Pg 433]
Capt. Grossett’s Widow and 4 Children 150
Capt. Edmonson’s Widow and 1 Child 70
Capt. Launder’s Widow 50
Lieutenant Parry’s Widow and 1 Child 50
Lieutenant Macnaire’s Widow 30
The Widow of Mr. Bourchier and 4 Children 80
—-
580
Widows and Orphans of Serjeants and private Soldiers.
To Hester Mounce (Serjeant’s Widow) and two Daughters 30
Esther Smith, Serjeant’s Widow 17
Ellen Edge (Soldier’s Widow) and five Children 25
Bridget Moore and two Children 20
Jane Fishborne and one Child 15
Widow Nickle and four Children 30
Widow Cole and two Children 20
Widow Perkins and one Child 15
Widow Richards and two Children 20
Widow Gale and two Children 20
Widow Salisbury 10
Widow Newsham and three Children 25
Widow Craig and one Child 15
Widow Combes and one Child 15
Widow Wright and four Children 30
Widow Herbert and two Children 20
Widow Bolton 10
Two Orphans of John Johnson 10
Nineteen other Widows of private Men belonging to the Glasgow Regiment, at 5l. each 95
Forty Six Orphans at 3l. each 138
——
In all £1160
——-

APPENDIX No. V

Containing an Account of the particular Disbursements.

l. s. d.
To Messrs. Stiles for 10,000 Pair of long Stockings, and for Wrappers, Package, &c. 508 10 0
To Mr. Handley for 6500 Pair of short ditto, with Charges of Delivery 321 5 2
To Messrs. Fullagar and Allen for 15,000 Pair of Breeches 2468 15 0
To Messrs. John and Michael Turner for 6000 Shirts 1052 10 0
To Mr. Abraham Chambers for 6000 ditto 1052 10 0
To Messrs. Fullagar and Allen for 10,000 Caps 208 6 8
To Messrs. Brookes, sen. and jun. for 1000 Blankets 337 10 0
To Messrs. Stiles for 12,000 Pair of Woollen Gloves, with the Wrappers, &c. 289 18 8
To Messrs. Fullagar and Allen for 9100 Pair of Spatterdashers. 322 5 10
To the Right Honourable Stephen Poyntz, Esq. for the Use of the Duke’s Hospital 300 0 0
To the Maimed and Wounded Soldiers from Preston-Pans 150 0 0
To Mr. Cuthbert Smith, Mayor of Newcastle, for the Use of the sick Soldiers in those Parts 300 0 0
To ditto, for his Disbursements 26 13 10[Pg 434]
To Mr. Alderman Winterbottom, for Package of Goods sent to Scotland 87 4 6
To his Royal Highness the Duke, for the maim’d and wounded at Falkirk 300 0 0
To his Royal Highness the Duke—To be paid for distinguished Acts of Service £1000 } 6000 0 0
To his Royal Highness the Duke—To be divided amongst the Regiments engaged at Culloden 4000
To his Royal Highness the Duke—To be given to the Subalterns 1000
To Mr. Luke Bell, the Committee’s Agent, for his Trouble and Subsistence in Scotland, in looking after the Goods sent thither 124 9 2
To the Widows and Orphans of several Officers and Soldiers 1160 0 0
To several Soldiers by particular Recommendations 20 1 0
To Mr. Ford, the Committee’s Secretary, his Bill of Disbursements for Insurance of Goods to Scotland, printing Advertisements, Postage of Letters, and other incident Expences 209 18 3
To ditto, as a Gratuity, for himself and Clerk 200 0 0
To the Chamberlain’s Clerks, Hall-Keepers, Messengers and Attendants 117 15 0
——————
15,557 13 1
Proposed by the Committee to allow.
l. s. d.
To St. Bartholomew’s Hospital 1000 0 0 } Being the Ballance 3352 7 8
To St. Thomas’s 1000 0 0
To the General Hospital at Bath 1000 0 0
To the three Infirmaries of London, Westminster, and Hyde-Park-Corner. 300 0 0
To Expences attending the closing of Accounts and printing the Report. 52 7 8
——————
Total of the Money Subscribed 18,910 0 9
——————

APPENDIX V
CARDINAL YORK’S MEMORIAL TO THE POPE [644]

This document, which belongs to the Earl of Galloway, is printed by his kind permission. The manuscript bears the following endorsement:—

‘Cardinal of York’s Memorial presented to Pope Clement 13th on the absurdity of the See of Rome in refusing to acknowledge the title of the Cardinal’s Brother (Charles Edward) to the Crown of England on the death of their father in 1766.

‘This paper was given me by my revered Relative, Dr. John Cooke, President of C.C.C., who was at Rome at this time, and well known to Cardinal York, tho’ a firm

[Pg 435]

Protestant, in early life he was a friend to the legitimate Succession.—It is not improbable that he copied this from the original manuscript.

V. T.
‘June 16, 1825.’

A letter from the Hon. Charles Stewart, fellow of All Souls, afterwards the Bishop of Quebec, to his brother, the eighth Earl of Galloway, dated Nov. 26th, 1825, explains that the initials on the endorsement are those of the Rev. Vaughan Thomas, at one time of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Mr. Thomas desired that the manuscript should be given to Lord Galloway, whom he considered to be the proper person to possess so interesting a Stuart document.

MEMORIA

Sopra la necessità indispensabile, nella quale si trova la Santa Sede di dover riconoscere per unici, e legittimi Successori del Regno d’Inghilterra la Real Casa Stuarda, e sopra la Incoérenza ed assurdi, che ne seguirebbero dal fare il contrario con poco decoro della Santa Sedi Medesima.

Chi stende la memoria si dichiara di non voler aprire un libro appoggiando i suoi Raziocinj su i fatti pubblici e notorj.

Niuno nel Mondo ignora qualmente il Rè Giacomo Secondo fù cacciato dal suo Regno unicamente in odium Religionis. Gl’istissi Fanton della di lui espulsione erano i primi a non mettere in controversia due principj infallibili. Il primo, che il Regno d’Inghilterra era di sua natura successivo; Il Secondo che la Real Persona di Giacomo Secondo fosse il legittimo Successore: Per ritrovare adunque un apparente pretesto di cacciarnelo senza distruggere il diritto della successione che secondo le leggi è inalterabile, per servire ai loro disegni misero fuori le stabilimento già fatto per legge nel Regno della Religione Anglicana; e piantando per Massima, che l’essere il Rè Cattolico fosse un imminente e continuo péricolo della distruzzione e sovversione di tal legge, fecero un Decreto di Parlamento in cui pretendendo di Spiegare lo Spirito della legge di successione dichiarono nel tempo stesso, che non potesse essere atto a succedere chiunque fosse della Religione Cattolica o ricusasse di conformassi alla Religione dominante.

In Virtù dunque di questo atto fù ingiustamente, ed iniquamente cacciato Giacomo Secondo e la sua prole cattolica dal suo regno e chiamato a succedere il più prossimo erede Protestanti,[Pg 436] il che ha prosequito fino a dì nostri non solamente nelle Persone delle due Figlie dell’ istisso Giacomo Secondo per essere Protestanti ma ancora nelle Persone dei Principi della casa d’Hannover, per essere questi i più prossimi Eredi Protestanti; in prova di che chiunque è ben informato delle Storie di Principi di questo secolo, sà, che la Principissa Anna, da loro chiamata Regina, volendo favorire Giacomo terzo suo Fratello ad esclusione della casa di Hannover spedi persone accreditate per indurlo a dichiararsi Protestante ed in questa maniera togliere l’unico impedimento, che ostasse al possesso del di lui Regno, ma quella medesima assistenza speciale di Dio, che diè forza a Giacomo Secondo suo Padre di Sagrificare trè Regni per la S. Fede, diè altresi forza al di lui Figlio di ricusare corragiosamente si fatta proposizione per ricuperarli.

Ciò presupposto è cosa indubitata, che anche a Giorni nostri la S. Sede non canonizza niun trattato di Pace, a cui per mezzo de’ suoi Ministri non intervenga, e molto meno approva qualunque atto, che possa essere o direttamente o indirettamente lesivo de’ suoi dritti e della S. Chiesa, il di cui Capo è il Sommo Pontefice Vicario di Gesù Cristo; Anzi a Misure, che se ne danno le occasioni, vi si fanno contro le dovute proteste. Or’ chi può mettere in dubbio, o negare, che possa darsi un Decreto pubblico più direttamente contrario alla nostra S. Fede, e conseguentamente più lesivo dei dritti della S. Madre Chiesa di quello di cui si tratta; per mezzo del quale viene privato dei diritto della successione chiunque porta impresso il fortunato carattere di essere di lei figliuolo. Quindi e che i sommi Pontefici principiando da Innocenzo 11o di Santa Memoria giudicarono non essere uopo di fare alcuna esplicita protesta contro di un si iniquo decreto servendosi e bastandogli in luogo di questa il continuato riconoscimento, che ha fatto la S. Sede della Casa Reale Stuarda per gli unici e legittimi successori del Regno, in consequenza di che veniva la S. Sede medesima a risguardare per nullo il Decreto stesso che per indiretto e tacitamente averebbe approvato sempre che soltanto negato avesse ai legittimi Successori Cattolici il dovuto riconoscimento.

Ed infatti vi passa un gran divanò fra l’indispensabile riconoscimento che far dee la S. Sede della Real Casa Stuarda, ad esclusione di quella di Hanover da quel chepassa nel riconoscimento almeno implicito, che fa la medesima S. Sede di altri Principi Eretici. Per modo di esempio; il Papa certamente nè tratta nè ha corrispondenza alcuna coi Rè di Svezia e di Danimarca, ma ciò unicamente per essere Eglino Eretici, non già[Pg 437] perche loro impugno neghi la legittima successione dell’essere di Rè; Quindi nei Diarj stessi stampati coll’ approvazione della Corte di Roma, non si fa difficultà di enunciarli per Rè di Svezia, per Rè di Danimarca; ma nel caso nostro non solo può il sommo Pontefice trattare direttamente colla casa di Hanover per essere Eretica, ma neppur può in alcun modo nè anche tacitamente riconoscere il Capo di quella per legittimo successore del Regno d’lnghilterra; Poiche verrebbe in tal guisa a canonizzare, ed ammettere direttamente per valido e sussistente il sudetto inique Decreto.

Di tutti questi fatti e principj si è Veduto dal mondo intero a qual segno era persuasa ed imbevuta la S. Mem. di Clemente undecimo il quale nell’atto di ricevere, e di abbracciare con paterno amore la Maestà di Giacomo terzo, allorchi per suo unico rifugio in virtù dei Frattati di Pace, ai quali tutti gli altri Principi Cattolici, esclusone il sommo Pontefice, astretti furono di acconsentire, si portò nello stato Ecclesiastico, e successivamente a Roma: Persuaso, dico, il S. Padre ed imbevuto delle sudette massime e sentimenti non si contentò di riconoscere, e di trattare la Real Persona di Giacomo terzo per unico e legittimo Rè d’lnghilterra, ma intendendo di volere nella di lui Persona riconoscere tutta la Regia sua Prosapia, non lasciò nè mezzi nè industrie per carcarne la propagazione ed in consequenza procurargli un legittimo successore: Epperò effettuato, che fù il matrimonio di Giacomo terzo colla Principessa Sobieskj; facilitato non poco da qualche Lettera del Papa scritta all’ Imperadore: Frà pochi mesi divenne gravida la Regina e circa gli ultimi giorni dell’ anno 1720 trovossi prossima al parto; ed allora il S. Padre conoscendo da una parte la necessità di dover rendere incontastabile la legitimazione del Parto, e dall’ altra intendendo l’obligo preciso, in cui ritrovasi la S. Sede, per non contradire a se stessa, e per vie più sempre fare atti protestativi contro l’accennato ingiusto Decreto, di riconoscere la futura prole qual Erede Presuntivo, e legittimo successore del Regno d’Inghilterra si accensa a fare questo atto colla maggiore solennità possibile; Perlocchi volle il S. Padre, che fossero chiamate per essere presenti al parto, il Sagro Collegio, il Senato Romano, i primi Prelati e Principi Romani, e la primaria Nobilità di Roma; E Siccome la Maestà della Regina stento a partorire per lo spazio di tre giorni in circa in tutto questo tempo farono ripiene le Anticamere di Sua Maestà dei riferti rispettabilissimi Personaggi, i quali vicendevolmente surrogavansi gli uni agli altri, con avervi ancora[Pg 438] pernottato alcuni dei Signori Cardinali. In mezzo adunque di consesso così rispettabile nacque ai 31 di Dicembre dell’anno Sudetto Carlo Odoardo Principe di Galles riconosciuto per tale e consequentamente per Erede presuntivo della Corona dal Medesimo sommo Pontefice, il quale non tardo punto a farlo annunziare a tutto il Popolo per mezzo dello Sparo del Cannone di Castello. E qui sia lecito riflettere che se il Rè Giacomo terzo stato fosse in pacifico possesso del suo Trono, non poteva il sudetto nato Principe ricevere maggiori onori, ed atti più declaratorj del suo dritto successivo alla corona. La sola formalità, che per parte della S. Sede rimanere poteva al compimento di questi atti si era la tradizione delle Fascie Benedette solite mandarsi ai soli Eredi necessarj delle Teste Coronate, non già Elettive, ma unicamenta successive: Ma perchi cessò di vivere la S. Memoria di Clemente undecimo, prima che fossero del tutto terminate le dette Fascie, toccò al di lui successore Innocenzo tredecimo compire questo ultimo atto, com’ Egli fece colla maggior Solennità possibile mandando a questo effetto preciso un obligato con tutte le formalità e ceremonie solite pratticarsi colle oltre Corti.

Da tutto questo racconto non si può negare che appariscono nel suo pieno le obligazioni che ha la Real Casa Stuarda alla S. Mem. di Clemente undecimo, ma appariscono altrettanto quanto stava a cuore di quel sommo Pontefice il decoro della S. Sede e come ben intendeva l’indispensabile necessità da cui era astretta a Sostenere inviolabili i Dritti della Casa Reale Sudetta: Videva benissimo il S. Padre, che tutti questi replicati atti di riconoscimento dovevano necessariamente inasperire il Governo d’Inghilterra massimamente contro i Cattolici ed in conseguenza essere in qualche maniera di Ostacolo al buon successo delle missioni; Capiva altrasi che egli solo era l’unico Principe Cattolico, che faceva questi atti di riconoscimento: con tutto ciò tenendo avanti gli Occhi la giustizia della causa che diveniva punto di Religione, l’abborrimento che non mai abbastanza poteva rimostrare la S. Sede al Sopracitato Decreto, e per fine l’obbligo preciso de’ suoi Successori in non dipartirsi giammai da quanto Egli faceva a prò di una Famiglia si bene merita della S. Sede, non esitò punto di eseguirli con tante Solennità, per mezzo delle quali toglieva a Suoi Medesimi Successori qualunque ragione di dubbio circa il trattamento dovuto al Principe di Galles, seguita la morte del di lui Padre; Giacche sapeva benissimo il sommo Pontefice che riconosciutosi una volta dalla S. Sede per Erede presuntivo di un Regno un[Pg 439] Figlio, non può mettere in dubbio alla morte del di lui Padre, che gli Succeda in tutto, ed in conseguenza nella sua dignita e ne’suoi onori; In quella guisa appunto, che nell’ Impero (non ostante che sia stato elettivo) riconosciutosi una volta dalla S. Sede alcuno Rè de’ Romani non può Ella dispensarsi, Seguita la morte dell’ Imperadore, dal riconoscerlo per di lui Successore.

Pieno pertanto il glorioso Clemente undecimo di questi giustissimi sentimenti nell’ atto stesso di morire, volle manifestare a tutto il sagro collegio qual si fosse la sua premura perchè costantemente si mantenesse quanto Egli aveva fatto verso la Real Casa, facendogli sù di ciò una speciale raccomandazione. Fedelissimi e zelosissimi Esecutori delle Operazioni e del Testamento di un tanto Papa sono Stati tutti i Pontefici successori principiando da Innocenzo Tredecimo fino a Clemente Tredecimo felicemente regnante, tutti hanno trattato e risguardato il Figlio Primogenito di Giacomo terzo come Principe di Galles; cioè Successore del Regno d’Inghilterra. Quindi dacchi il Principe cominciò ad essere ammesso all’ udienza dei Sommi Pontefici non vi è stata mai la minima difficoltà circa il trattamento, anzi non mettendosi in dubbio, che trà le altre distinzioni competer gli dovesse una sedia a braccio simile a quella del Rè suo Padre; (il che è lo stile della S. Sede verso gli Eredi presuntivi di un Regno). A questa sola particolarità pregò la Maestà del Re, che si dovesse derogare in sua presenza a solo ed unico fine mantenere lo stile del Regno d’Inghilterra, che porta non possa ne anche il Figlio Primogenito sedere in ugual sedia col Padre presente, e per aderire a queste brame della Maestà sua gli è stata sempre data una sedia Camerale di appoggio, ma bensì senza bracci.

Rimane ora ad esaminare le contradizzioni, ed assurdi, che ne seguirebbero ogni qual volta la S. Sede negasse di riconoscere il Principe di Galles per legittimo successore del Rè suo Padre alla morte di medesimo; Sarebbero questi fuor di dubbio senza numero, nè si facile sarebbe l’accennarli tutti; pure ne scorreremo alcuni. E Primieramente siccome il Principe di Galles per lo spazio ornai di 45 anni e stato in possesso del titolo e delle prerogative di Principe di Galles, non si gli passono ora negare, o sia egli presente o sia assente, senza derogare e contradire espressamente agli atti più solenni di sei Papi consecutivi. In Secondo luogo ne seguirebbe, che quella medesima, Persona, alla quale la S. Sede oggi dà trattamento e risguarda come Principe di Galles (che vale a dire successore naturale del[Pg 440] Regno d’Inghilterra, come lo e il Delfino in Francia, ed il Principe di Asturias in Spagna) domani verrendo a morte del Padre, se si ricusa, quando Ella ne da parte, di riconoscerla come succeduta al Padre medesimo nella dignità ed onori col fatto si nega, che sia stato Principe di Galles. In terzo luogo qual trattamento potrà darsi, morto il Padre, al Sudetto Principe? Forse di Principe di Galles? Ma si avverta ch’ Egli non lo è più. Dunque o gli compete lo stesso trattamento ch’ aveva il Padre a cui è succeduto, o converrà dire che non gli competeva per tanti anni il titolo, e le prerogative di Successore. Quarto, Affinche il Papa faccia una innovazione di questa natura contradittoria ed opposto allo Stabilimento di suoi Antecessori vi vuol qualche causa quale certamente non vi è ni vi può essere; poichè se alcuno di Principi Cattolici sono stati costretti a retrocedere dal riconoscere la Real Casa Stuarda per legittimo Erede e Successore del Regno d’Inghilterra; è avvenuto in consequenza dei diversi trattati di Pace col presente Governo d’Inghilterra che li metteva in necessità di riconoscere la Successione Eretica com’ era stata stabilita dal famoso Decreto del Parlamento: Ma tal causa ogn’ un ben vede che non può addursi dal S. Padre in alcun modo: Egli non ha mai fatto, nè puo fore trattati di alcuna sorta co’ Principi Eretici; Egli neppure ha aderito in questa parte ai sudetti trattati di Pace di altri Principi: Sopra tutto Egli non hà potuto mai nè può riconoscere per valido, o sussistente il famoso riferito Decreto contro del quale, come si è accennato di Sopra, serve d’incontrastabile protesta il continuato riconoscimento della Casa Reale Stuarda. Anzi da qui verrebbe il quinto assurdo di gravissimo pregiudizio alla S. Sede, e con ammirazione di tutti i buoni, mentre cessando di riconoscere il Principe di Galles come successore del Rè suo Padre, verrebbe il Papa in certa maniera a rivocare tutte le proteste fatte da’ suoi Antecessori, e se ne inferirebbe una pregiudizievolissima consequenza; Cioè che quando in un stato Eretico il Principe si faccia Cattolico sia in facoltà di Sudditi per questo solo motivo di escluderlo dal Principato. Sesto, che non vede l’assurdo gravissimo, che ne succederebbe ne’ pubblichi Diarj stampati fin’ ora coll’ autorità della S. Seda sempre per lo spazio di tanti anni in una stessa Maniera? Sotto il Titolo d’Inghilterra dovrà forse Scriversi Giorgio Terzo? Ma questo non si può, mentre non vi ha mai avuto luogo, ne può l’essere riconosciuto per Rè dal Papa. Dovrà dunque lasciarsi sotto il sudetto titolo Carlo Odoardo Principe di GallesEnrico Benedetto Duce di[Pg 441] York. Ma il Padre dov è? Se egli è morto, non vi è più Principe di Galles. Dunque questo Titolo non gli compete. Sicchè o bisogna indicarlo per Rè o bisogna cassarlo, è cassare anzi per sempre il titolo d’Inghilterra, come se più non vi fosse.

Rimane finalmente ad esaminare, se nelle circostanze presente della S. Sede riconoscendo il Papa in caso di morte del Rè Giacomo Terzo il di lui figlio già per tanti anni in possesso del titolo e delle prerogative di Principe di Galles per di lui successore nelle dignità ed onori, possa a giusta ragione ciò chiamarsi novità. Chi scrive si appella al mondo tutto, ai nemici medesimi della casa Reale, ma già da questi stessi sente replicarsi ad una voce, che sarebbe anzi novità per la S. Sede fare il contrario, sarebbe contradizione a se stessa, sarebbe approvare ciò che non può approvare, e per fine si usarebbe una grandissima ostilità alla casa Reale in benemerenza di avere sagrificati trè Regni per la S. Fede, privandola col fatto del solo asilo, in cui possa risedere con decoro, e di cui è stata in possesso per il decorso di tanti anni. Ne vi è certamente Principe Cattolico che non conosca per tutti i motivi sopradetti l’indispensabile necessità in cui trovasi la S. Sede di non fare altrimenti, e capiscono tutti benissimo che niun Principe è tenuto a render conto all’altro delle Operazioni, che Egli fa, particolarmente quando sono conseguenze, e principj del proprio Stato: Ed in effete non ostante che tutti i Principi Cattolici in corpo abbiano ultimamente ricusato di riconoscere il Rè di Polonia, ed il solo Papa con due Principi Eretici lo abbiano riconosciuto: Quale però de’ Principi Cattolici ha fatto mai querela sù di ciò al S. Padre, o facendola non fosse per contentarsi di una si giusta risposta, qual sarebbe, che il Papa non è obligato a render ragione delle sue operazione in alcune circostanze; che in questo non ha fatto altro, che seguire le massime, ed i principj della S. Sede: e finalmente, che a lui basta, che gli costi della validità dell’ Elezione, e delle dovute convenienze usate al suo nunzio, e per conseguenza alla sua Persona?

Ma nel caso nostro sempre cresce l’argomento, poichè il riconoscimento di un Rè di Polonia potrebbe ammettere qualch’ esame, o discussione, ma qual discussione o esame può mai richiedersi nel riconoscere la legittima successione di un Figlio al Padre dopo la sua morte nelle di lui prerogative ed onori? Non è già questo riconoscimento come quello in realtà, atto nuovo ma bensì una sola necessaria conseguenza di quello, che già fù stabilito da tanti anni dai sommi Pontefici,[Pg 442] allorchì riconobbero il Figlio di Giacomo Terzo. E tutti gli argomenti, che addurre si potrebbero, acciochè la S. Sede facesse una simil novità di dispensarsi dal riconoscere il Principe di Galles alla morte del di lui Genitore per suo legittimo successore, potevano addursi, ed avevano anzi maggior forza per impedire il riconoscimento del medesimo, in qualità di Principe di Galles dalla S. Mem. di Clemente undecimo con tutte quelle circostanze e solennità già riferite, mentre in quei tempi il Papa fù il Solo Principe Cattolico, che riconobbe il Figlio di Giacomo Terzo per Principe di Galles. E quantunque la casa di Hanover si avvedesse che questo atto fosse un impegno preso dalla S. Sede (come certamente lo era) di doverlo in appresso riconoscere per legittimo successore del Padre dopo la di lui morte, ciò non ostante non apportò alcuno di quei cattivi effetti, forse ideati, o tenuti da alcuna Persone poco informate e prattiche dello stato delle cose in quel Regno.

Chi ha scritto questa memoria in ultimo si dichiara, che non ha avuto altro scopo, che togliere i scrupoli di alcuni poco intesi delle cose del mondo, e ribattere le difficoltà che forse suscitar si potrebbe dai nemici non meno della Casa Reale, che della S. Sede. Del resto i protesti veramente tenuti alle continue dimostrazioni di Paterno amore, e clemenze usate dalla Santità di nostro Signore felicemente regnante verso tutta la sudetta casa Reale, che non può neppur sospettare, che mancando a suoi tempi il Rè Giacomo Terzo voglia punto deviare dalle savissime traccie indicatigli da suoi gloriosi Antecessori.

Nota:—Siccome dopo stesa la presente memoria, pur troppo non ha mancato più di uno di mettere in dubbio i sentimenti della santità di nostro signore felicemente Regnante verso la Real Casa, quasi che fossero totalmente diversi da quella de’suoi antecessori, ed in conseguenza potersi supporre essere un semplice complimento verso la Santità sua quel tanto che con fiducia si viva presuppone l’Estensore nell’ ultimo della memoria perciò lo stesso ha creduto uno preciso dovere di giustizia, ed insiemi di gratitudine rispettosa verso li S. Padre d’inserire in fine questa stessa memoria tutte le lettere, che possono aver rapporto alla presente risoluzione presa dal Real Principe di Galles di ritornare in questa Capitale; e siccome apparisce più chiaro della luce del sole, quali siano i sentimenti precisi del S. Padre verso la Real Casa, e la Persona del Real Principe di Galles sudetto tanto autenticamente manifestati, così lo[Pg 443] stesso Estensore crede non esservi bisogno di glossa per far conoscere quanto siano insussistenti, e false le precorse assertive, e con quanta ragione e fondamento abbia rimostrato l’Estensore tutta la fiducia e sicurezza nei sentimenti della Santità sua e quanto li abbia ben compresi il Real Principe di Galles, giacchè unicamente in virtù de’ medesimi si è accinto alla risoluziona di restituirsi a Roma.

Translation[645]

Concerning the indispensable necessity of recognition, by the Holy See, of the Royal House of Stuart, as the sole and legitimate successors to the Kingdom of England, and concerning the inconsistencies and incongruities which would ensue, should she follow the contrary course, being one which would little become the dignity of the Holy See.

He who presents this Memorial wishes to state the case briefly, basing his reasonings on public and well-known facts. No one in the world is ignorant of the fact that King James II. was hunted from his throne in odium Religionis. The very people who were scheming for his expulsion would have been the last to deny two infallible principles. The first—that the Kingdom of England was, of its nature, an hereditary one; the second, that the Royal Person of James II. was the lawful successor. Wishing therefore to find an adequate pretext for deposing him, without destroying the right of succession, which is, by law, unalterable, they, to serve their own ends, brought forward the question of the establishment in the kingdom, already made by law, of the Anglican Religion; and making as their chief complaint, that the fact of the king being a Catholic placed that law in constant and imminent peril of destruction and subversion, they made an Act of Parliament in which, while claiming to explain the spirit of the laws of succession, they declared at the same time that it was not fitting that any one whosoever should succeed who was of the Catholic Religion, or who did not conform to the dominant religion.

By virtue of this Act, then, were James II. and his Catholic offspring deprived of the throne, and his nearest Protestant relative was called to succeed to it, whose line has continued to do so even to our own days, not only in the persons of James II.’s two daughters, who were Protestants, but also in those of the Princes of the House of Hanover, these being the nearest Protestant heirs; in proof of this, any one who has knowledge of the history of the princes of this century knows that the Princess Anne, called by them Queen, wishing to show favour to her brother James III., to the exclusion of the House of Hanover, sent accredited persons to try to persuade him to declare himself a Protestant, and to remove, in this manner, the only obstacle that stood in the way of his possession of his kingdom: but that special grace of God, which gave[Pg 444] strength to his father, James II., to sacrifice three kingdoms for the Holy Faith, likewise gave strength to his son to refuse courageously any such means of regaining them.

This, one may take for granted, is an undoubted fact, that then, as now, the Holy See is bound by no Treaty of Peace, in the arranging of which, by means of her Ministers, she has had no voice, and how much less does she approve of any act that can, either directly or indirectly, infringe on her rights and those of Holy Church, the head of whom is the Supreme Pontiff, the Vicar of Christ: rather should such arise she would make fitting protests.

Now can it be questioned that any public decree could be more directly contrary to our Holy Faith, and consequently could infringe more seriously on the rights of Holy Mother Church, than that of which we are treating, by means of which the rights of Succession are denied to any one happy enough to be one of her sons? Hence it is that the Supreme Pontiffs, beginning with Innocent XI. of pious memory, did not deem it necessary to make any explicit protest against such an iniquitous decree, contenting themselves instead with the continued recognition which the Holy See has always accorded to the Royal House of Stuart, as the sole and legitimate successors to the throne, so that the Holy See came to regard this Decree (to which, had she refused to recognise the legitimate Catholic successors, she would have been indirectly and tacitly agreeing,) as null.

And indeed, there is a great comparison to be drawn between the recognition given by the Holy See to the Royal House of Stuart, to the exclusion of the House of Hanover, and that which this same Holy See accords to other heretical princes; as, for example, the Pope certainly is in no treaty, and has no correspondence with the Kings of Sweden and Denmark, but this is solely because they are heretics, not because he denies in any way their legitimate right to their succession. Thus, in the papers printed with the approbation of the Court of Rome, no difficulty is raised as to speaking of them as King of Sweden and King of Denmark; but in the case in point, the Most High Pontiff treats directly with this heretical House of Hanover, though he cannot by any means recognise its head as the legitimate successor to the Kingdom of England, so that in this manner he is ratifying the aforesaid iniquitous decree, and directly admitting it as valid and real.

It is plainly seen by the whole world how deeply imbued with these facts and principles was Clement XI. of blessed memory, who, when His Majesty King James III. turned to him as his only refuge (on account of the Treaty of Peace, to which all the Catholic princes, with the exception of His Holiness, were constrained to consent), carried him away to the Papal States, and afterwards to Rome: the Holy Father, I say, fully imbued with and convinced of the aforesaid sentiments and truth, did not content himself with simply recognising and treating the royal person of James III. as the sole and legitimate King of England, but, wishing to recognise also all his royal progeny, he spared no trouble to[Pg 445] ensure that the propagation of the line should be carried on, in order to procure him a legitimate successor. This was effected by the marriage of James III. with the Princess Sobieski; which was not a little facilitated by letters written by the Pope to the Emperor. In a few months it became known that the hopes for an heir were to be realised, and towards the last days of the year 1720, as the time of his birth approached, the Holy Father knowing on the one side the necessity of rendering the legitimacy of the birth indisputable, and on the other, realising that the Holy See must in nowise contradict herself, but must act in such a manner as to show most decidedly her protest against the unjust Decree, by recognising the future offspring as heir-apparent and legitimate successor to the throne of England, he took upon himself to see that this event should take place with the greatest possible solemnity; and therefore, by the wish of the Holy Father, there were called to be present at the birth, the Sacred College, the Roman Senate, the highest Roman Princes and Prelates, and the foremost nobility of Rome; and although there was a delay of three days before the birth took place, during the whole of this time the ante-rooms of Her Majesty were filled with these most venerable personages, who relieved one another by turns, while some of the Cardinals sat up each night. Thus, in the midst of so honourable an assembly was born on December 31st of the aforesaid year, Charles Edward, Prince of Wales, acknowledged as such, and consequently as heir-apparent to the Crown, by the Supreme Pontiff himself, who without delay had the birth announced to all the people by means of a salute from the cannon of the castle. And here it is allowable to reflect that even had King James III. been in peaceful possession of his throne the aforesaid newly-born Prince could not have received greater honours, nor could his right to succeed to the Crown have been proclaimed more unquestionably. The only formality which could have put a finishing touch to the rest was the traditional Delivery of the Swaddling Clothes, which it was the custom to send only to the heirs of crowned heads (and then only to those reigning by succession, not by election): but, as Clement XI. of pious memory died before this matter was concluded, it fell to his successor, Innocent XIII., to complete it, which he did with all possible solemnity, sending an ambassador, with all the formality and ceremonies observed with other Courts.

From all this, it cannot be denied that the obligations under which the Royal House of Stuart lay to Clement XI. of blessed memory are very plainly shown, but it is also shown just as plainly how much His Holiness had at heart the dignity of the Holy See, and how well he realised the absolute necessity by which he was bound to sustain the rights of the aforesaid Royal House inviolable. The Holy Father saw plainly that all these repeated acts of recognition must necessarily greatly embitter the English Government against the Catholics, and, in consequence, must, in a manner, be an obstacle to the success of the missions. He also understood that he alone was the one Catholic prince who had made this act of recognition. With all this, keeping before his[Pg 446] eyes the justice of the cause (which was quite apart from the question of religion), the abhorrence that the Holy See could never sufficiently show to the aforementioned decree, and, finally, the strict obligation of his successors never to depart from the line he had taken towards a family which deserved so much from the Holy See, he did not hesitate for a moment to pursue this course with great solemnity, thereby robbing his successors of any reason of doubt concerning the treatment owed to the Prince of Wales on the death of his father; since His Holiness knew well, that once a son was recognised as heir-apparent by the Holy See, no doubt could be raised that at the death of his father he should succeed to everything, and therefore to his dignity and honours: in the same way that, in the Empire (notwithstanding its being an Elective State), once the Holy See recognised any one as King of the Romans, she could not afterwards, on the death of the Emperor, free herself from recognising his successor. The mind of the glorious Clement XI. was so full of these just sentiments, at the moment of his death, that he wished to show plainly to all the Sacred College how great was his anxiety that what he had done towards the Royal House should be permanently maintained, laying on them a special charge to that effect. All the succeeding Popes, beginning with Innocent XIII. down to Clement XIII., now by the grace of God reigning, have been most faithful and zealous executors of this trust, and all have treated and regarded the first-born son of James III. as Prince of Wales; therefore as successor to the King of England. Hence, ever since the Prince has been admitted to audiences with His Supreme Holiness, there has never been the slightest difficulty as to his treatment, or rather, there has been no doubt, that among other fitting distinctions, he should have, as did the king, his father, an armchair (which it is customary for the Holy See to offer to the heirs-apparent to a throne). But, in this one particular, His Majesty asked that a slight modification might be made in his presence, for the one and only reason of maintaining the custom of the Kingdom of England, where even the eldest son in the presence of his father is not allowed to sit in a seat equal to his: and to comply with His Majesty’s wish, the prince has always been given an easy chair, but without arms.

There now remains to examine the contradictions and inconsistencies which would arise each time that the Holy See refused to recognise the Prince of Wales as legitimate successor to the king, his father, at the death of the latter. These would be without doubt innumerable; it would not be easy to foresee them all, nevertheless we can mention some. Firstly, that as the Prince of Wales has for the space of forty-five years been in possession of the title and prerogatives of Prince of Wales, they cannot now be denied him, whether present or absent, without derogating and expressly contradicting the solemn line of action followed by six successive Popes. In the second place, it must follow that if the Holy See to-day treats and looks on this same person as Prince of Wales (that is to say, as natural successor to the throne of England, as is the Dauphin to that of France, and the Prince of the Asturias to that of Spain), and to-morrow hearing of the death of his father draw back from[Pg 447] recognising him as succeeding to that father in dignity and honours, she thus denies that he ever was Prince of Wales. In the third place, how could she then recognise the aforesaid Prince after his father’s death? Perhaps still as Prince of Wales? But it is averred that he is that no longer. Plainly then, either he is entitled to the same treatment as that given to his father, whom he has succeeded, or, it is only right to say that he has not been entitled all these years to the prerogatives and rights of heir. Fourthly, before the Pope could make an innovation of this nature, so entirely at variance with the course adopted by his predecessors, it would be necessary to have some very strong reason, which neither exists now, nor ever can exist. For, if any of the Catholic princes have been constrained to draw back from the recognition of the Royal House of Stuart, as legitimate successors and heirs to the throne of England, it has only been in consequence of their entering on different treaties of peace with the present Government of England, which has put them under the necessity of recognising the heretical succession, as established by the famous Act of Parliament. But no such cause can possibly affect the Holy Father in any way. He has never made nor can he make treaties of any sort with heretical Princes: neither has he ever taken part in the aforesaid treaties of peace of other princes. Above all, he never has recognised, nor can he ever recognise, as valid or real, this same famous Decree, against which, as has been shown above, the continued recognition of the Royal House of Stuart serves as an indisputable protest. And from this we come to the fifth serious inconsistency, which might be most prejudicial to the Holy See; for if the Pope should cease to recognise the Prince of Wales as successor to the king, his father, it is evident, even to his most humble admirers, that he would be, in a way, revoking all the protests made by his predecessors, and a very dangerous consequence might ensue: namely, that should the prince of any heretical state become a Catholic, it would be within the power of his subjects, for this one reason only, to deprive him of his rights and inheritances.

Sixthly, is it not easy to see the serious inconsistency that would arise in the Public Records, which, up till now, have, with the authority of the Holy See, been printed for so many years in the same manner? Under the heading of England should there then be inscribed the name of George III? But this is not possible, since he has never been, nor can be recognised by the Pope as king. Should there not rather be entered under the above heading—Charles Edward, Prince of Wales—Henry Benedict, Duke of York? But where is the father? If he is dead there is no longer a Prince of Wales, then this title does not belong to him. Either the title should be that of king, or it should be abolished, with that of England, as if it no longer existed.

It only remains then to examine whether in the circumstances in which the Holy See is now placed, the Papal recognition (as in the occasion of the death of King James III.) of the son who has been for so many years in possession of the titles and prerogatives of the Prince of Wales, as successor in dignity and honours, can, in any justice be called an innovation. He who writes appeals to the whole world, even to the enemies of the[Pg 448] Royal House, though even these he can hear declaring as with one voice that the innovation would rather be, that the Holy See should act to the contrary; it would be a self-contradiction, in that it would be showing approbation of that of which she does not approve, and further, it would be showing great hostility to the Royal House in return for its having sacrificed three kingdoms for the Holy Faith, in depriving it of the only refuge to which it can rightly turn, and in which it has trusted for so many years. And there is no Catholic prince who does not well understand how impossible it would be for the Pope to follow such a course. They know well that no prince is called upon to account for his doings to any one else, more particularly when they concern matters or principles relating to his own state. And indeed, notwithstanding that all the Catholic princes in a body have lately refused to recognise the King of Poland, and only the Pope, with two heretical princes have done so, the Catholic princes, have, in this action of the Holy Father found no cause of quarrel, or, if they have found any, they have been satisfied with the just remark, that the Pope is not obliged to give any reasons for his actions under any circumstances, and that, in this case, he has only followed the rules and principles of the Holy See, and lastly that it is sufficient for him that he is satisfied with the validity of the election, and of the treatment accorded to his ambassador, as representing his own person.

But in our case, this only strengthens the argument, in that the recognition of the King of Poland admitted of some inquiries and discussion, but what discussion or inquiry can be necessary in recognising the legitimate succession of a son to a father, after the death of the latter? In reality there is no comparison between the two cases, this last recognition being nothing new, but rather the necessary consequence of the understanding that was established years ago by the supreme Pontiffs, that they should recognise the son of James III.

And all the arguments that could be cited, in order that the Holy See should give herself a dispensation from now recognising the Prince of Wales as legitimate successor on the death of his father, might have been brought forward just as reasonably, and with greater force, to hinder Clement XI. of pious memory from recognising him as Prince of Wales, as he did with all ceremony, as has already been stated, being at that time the only Catholic prince who did so recognise him. And although the House of Hanover saw that this act constituted a promise from the Holy See, which it certainly did, to recognise the prince as legitimate successor of his father, after the death of the latter, this, notwithstanding, brought none of those evil effects (perhaps chimerical) which were feared by some people who were but ill-informed or little conversant with the state of affairs in the kingdom.

He who has written this Memorial would have it understood in conclusion, that he has no other aim in view than to remove scruples felt by some who know little of the affairs of the world, and to combat the difficulties that perhaps might be raised by enemies, not only of the Royal House, but of the Holy See. For the rest, there has ever been[Pg 449] such continual clemency and fatherly love shown by His Holiness, now by the grace of God reigning, towards the whole of the aforesaid Royal House that it is impossible to believe, on the death of King James III., that His Holiness will in any way depart from the most wise example set by his predecessors of glorious memory.

Note:—As, after the completion of this Memorial there were not lacking those who cast doubts on the sentiments of His Holiness, now by the grace of God reigning, towards the Royal House, suspecting that they differed from those of his predecessors, and who, therefore, might consider the lively confidence evinced by the writer in the latter part of this Memorial simply as an empty compliment towards His Holiness, this same writer has therefore considered it a strict act of justice, as well as a tribute of gratitude and respect, towards the Holy Father, to insert at the end of this Memorial any letters that bear upon the present resolution of the Royal Prince of Wales to return to this capital. And as the exact sentiments of the Holy Father towards the Royal House and the person of the said Prince of Wales have been shown more unquestionably clearly than the light of the sun, so the writer considers any further comments and explanations unnecessary, to show how unfounded and false these suspicions are, and with how much reason and foundation the writer has relied so surely on the sentiments of the Holy Father, and how well the Royal Prince of Wales has understood them, in that it is solely on the strength of the same, that he continues in his resolve to return to Rome.


APPENDIX VI
THE MACDONALDS

John, Lord of the Isles (died 1387), fourth in succession from Donald progenitor of the clan, had two wives: (1) Amy MacRuari; (2) the Princess Margaret, daughter of Robert II., to marry whom he repudiated or divorced Amy. The lordship of the Isles went to the descendants of the Princess. The hereditary clan chiefship, which ordinarily descends to the senior heir-male, did not necessarily follow the title. The lordship of the Isles was taken from the Macdonalds and annexed to the Crown in 1494, and the question who is supreme hereditary chief of Clan Donald has ever since been a matter of strife. Glengarry and Clanranald descend from Amy MacRuari, the first wife, and are therefore senior in blood, but it is doubtful which of these two families is the elder; last century the general preference was for Glengarry, but the new Scots Peerage and the Clan Donald historian favour Clanranald. Sleat and Keppoch descend from the Princess Margaret,[Pg 450] Sleat coming from Hugh, third son of Alexander, Lord of the Isles (died 1449), grandson of John, and son of Donald of Harlaw, while Keppoch comes from the fourth son of John and Princess Margaret, and could only have a claim if there were a flaw in the pedigree of Sleat. Doubts have been expressed of the legitimacy of Hugh of Sleat, but these have been set aside. Glencoe’s progenitor was Ian, son of Angus Og (died 1330), Bruce’s friend who fought at Bannockburn, the father of John, Lord of the Isles, mentioned above, but the Seannachies have pronounced him illegitimate. From this Ian the Glencoe clan has been known as MacIan for centuries.

It is interesting to know that in the summer of 1911, the three hereditary heads of the families having serious claims on the supreme chiefship of the clan, Glengarry, Clanranald, and Sleat (Sir Alexander of the Isles), signed an indenture mutually agreeing to cease from active assertion of their claims, and that in the event of more than one of them being present with the clan, precedence for the occasion would be decided by lot.


[Pg 451]

APPENDIX VII
GENEALOGICAL TABLES SHOWING THE KINSHIP OF CERTAIN HIGHLAND CHIEFS AND LEADERS IN 1745.

[Pg 453]
Genealogical table
Note.—These tables have been compiled chiefly from the genealogical information given in the third volume of the History of Clan Donald.
Click here for a full-size version.


[Pg 454]

APPENDIX VIII
LISTS OF CERTAIN HIGHLAND GENTLEMEN WHO TOOK PART IN THE FORTY-FIVE [646]

MACDONALDS

Clanranald Branch

Glengarry Branch

Keppoch Branch

Glencoe Branch

[Pg 455]

CAMERONS

MACKENZIES

Lord Cromartie’s Regiment

Barisdale’s Regiment

[Pg 456]

MACLEODS

MACKINNONS

MACLEANS

MACLACHLANS

FRASERS

[Pg 457]

MACPHERSONS

MACINTOSHES

FARQUHARSONS

For the Stewarts of Appin, see A List of Persons concerned in the Rebellion, Scot. Hist. Soc., vol. viii. p. 383.

For the Grants of Urquhart and Glenmoriston, see Urquhart and Glenmoriston, by William Mackay, Inverness, 1893.

For The Gordons, see The House of Gordon (vol. iii., ‘Gordons under Arms’), by J. M. Bulloch, New Spalding Club, 1912.

For the Atholl Regiments, see vol. iii. of Chronicles of the Atholl and Tullibardine Families, by the Duke of Atholl, Edinburgh, privately printed, 1896.


FOOTNOTES:

[1] In this narrative, unless otherwise indicated, events occurring in Great Britain are given in old style dates, those on the Continent in new style.

[2] Original information on the Scots Plot is to be found in The Life of Lord Lovat written by Himself, London, 1797; A Collection of Original Papers about the Scots Plot, London, 1704; Original Papers, ed. by Jas. Macpherson, London, 1775; Major Fraser’s Manuscript, ed. by Alex. Fergusson, Edinburgh, 1889; The Lockhart Papers, London, 1817; and an eclectic account in Hill Burton’s Life of Lovat, London, 1847. Extracts from many of the original authorities on this and subsequent incidents are given usefully and ingeniously in consecutive narrative form by Professor Sanford Terry in The Chevalier de St. George, London, 1901.

[3] Original information: Histoire des Revolutions d’Ecosse et d’Irlande: The Hague, 1758, of which there is a Dublin reprint of 1761; The Secret History of Colonel Hooke’s Negotiations in Scotland in 1707, of which there are London, Edinburgh and Dublin editions, all of 1760 (it is practically a translation of the Histoire des Revolutions); The Correspondence of Colonel Nathaniel Hooke, an exhaustive work edited by Rev. W. D. Macray: Roxburghe Club, 1870. A not very friendly account of Hooke’s mission is given in the Lockhart Papers. The military state of Scotland at the time is to be found in An Account of the late Scotch Invasion as it was opened by My lord Haversham in the House of Lords: London, 1709. The story of the naval expedition is given in Mémoires du Comte de Forbin (Amsterdam, 1730), of which there is an English translation; the third edition is dated London, 1740.

[4] The possibility of treachery was suggested by Hooke, and his story is to be found in a Gask MS. Hooke, who had been bred to the sea, found the steersman going on the wrong course. He was put right, but as soon as Hooke’s back was turned he went wrong again. See Jacobite Lairds of Gask, p. 15: London, 1870.

[5] Esmond, bk. III. chap. i.

[6] The authorities on the ’Fifteen are to be found noted in most standard histories.

[7] This statement bears the authority of a MS. in the Bibliothèque Nationale, and a casual reference in a letter of Bishop Atterbury’s. (See Martin Haile, James Francis Edward, the Old Chevalier: London, 1907, p. 210.)

[8] A full account from the original authorities of Clementina’s rescue and marriage is to be found in Narratives of the Detention, Liberation, and Marriage of Maria Clementina Stuart, edited by J. T. Gilbert, LL.D.: Dublin, 1894.

[9] Clementina, by A. E. W. Mason.

[10] The best account of this expedition is in Mr. W. K. Dickson’s exceedingly clear and exhaustive introduction to The Jacobite Attempt, Scottish History Society, vol. xix.: Edinburgh, 1895. All the original authorities for this incident and the preceding Swedish plot are indicated in the Notes.

[11] Original authorities: Life of Christopher Layer: Norwich, 1723; Howell’s State Trials, vol. xvi. A full account is given by Lord Mahon, History of England, chap. xii. The dispositions by the Court at Rome are to be found in James Francis Edward, M. Haile; and The King over the Water (London, 1907), A. Shield and Andrew Lang.

[12] Hon. Arthur Dillon, second surviving son of Theobald, seventh Viscount Dillon. Born at Roscommon, 1670. His father raised a regiment for James II. at the Revolution, which Arthur accompanied to France, where he became its colonel, 1690. Served in Spain, Germany, and Italy. Lieut.-General under the Duke of Berwick at Barcelona, 1714. Created viscount (Jacobite) in the peerage of Ireland, 1717. Created earl (Jacobite) in the peerage of Scotland, 1721. Made Knight of the Thistle, 1722. Died at Paris, 1733.—Ruvigny, Jacobite Peerage.

[13] Shield and Lang, The King over the Water, pp. 360, 363.

[14] Mahon, History of England, chap. xii.

[15] Ruvigny, Jacobite Peerage, p. 16.

[16] It is worthy of note that although the new Scots Peerage as a rule chronicles the Jacobite titles conferred on Scottish nobles, there is no mention of this peerage to Sir James Grant in that work (see Scots Peerage, vol. vii. pp. 480-483), nor is it referred to in his biography in the Grant family history (Sir W. Fraser, The Chiefs of Grant, vol. i. pp. 371-392). For the action of the Grants in the ’Forty-five, see infra, p. 269 et seq.

[17] The Lockhart Papers are the principal authority for Jacobite history in Scotland from 1702 to 1728.

[18] James Urquhart was the only son of Jonathan Urquhart of Cromarty and his wife Lady Jean Graham, daughter of the second Marquis of Montrose. Jonathan was the last of the Urquharts who owned the estate of Cromarty, famous owing to its possession by Sir Thomas Urquhart, the translator of Rabelais. Jonathan’s affairs having got into disorder, he sold his ancestral property to George Mackenzie, Viscount Tarbat, who was created Earl of Cromartie in 1703. James Urquhart married Anne Rollo, daughter of Robert Rollo of Powhouse, and had an only child, Grizel, who died unmarried. Colonel Urquhart ‘was a man of noble spirit, great honour, and integrity; he served in the wars both in Spain and Flanders with great reputation, but left the Army, and lived a retired life.... In him ended the whole male line of John, only son of the first marriage of John, tutor of Cromarty ... the representation devolved upon William Urquhart of Meldrum’ (Douglas, Baronage). Colonel Urquhart was born in 1691, and died on January 3rd, 1741 (Family papers). His appointment as Jacobite Agent for Scotland is dated May 28th, 1736 (Ruvigny, Jacobite Peerage, p. 234).

[19] Not the famous conqueror of Almanza, who was killed in the War of the Polish Succession when besieging Philipsburg, on June 28th, 1734, but his son, known until then as the Duke of Liria.

[20] His commission as colonel is dated October 22nd, 1715.—Ruvigny, Jacobite Peerage, p. 244.

[21] For general information about Gordon of Glenbucket, the reader is referred to Mr. J. M. Bulloch’s monumental work, The House of Gordon (New Spalding Club, Aberdeen, 1912). For Glenbucket’s character and his actions in 1745, see infra, p. 113 et seq. It is remarkable how the designation ‘of Glenbucket’ has adhered to the family for generations, although the land from which it was derived was parted with a hundred and seventy-nine years ago. Gordon’s descendants are still tenants of the farm of St. Bridget’s, in Glenlivet, which was old Glenbucket’s home in 1745, and are still termed ‘Glenbucket’ in the district. For the Macdonell marriages see the genealogies in History of Clan Donald, vol. iii.

[22] M. Haile, James Francis Edward, p. 367.

[23] French historians generally blame Fleury for his timidity, and ascribe to him the decline of the splendid French navy, which he allowed to fall into decay for fear of English jealousy.

[24] The commission is dated January 28th, 1738. See Stuart Papers in Browne’s History of the Highlands, vol. iv. p. 21.

[25] See infra, p. 25.

[26] The terms of this message are given from a state paper in the French Archives of which the following is an extract: ‘il manda en Angleterre que le zèle de ses sujets écossais était si vif, qu’il lui semblait qu’on pourrait opposer les Montagnards de ce pays à la plupart des troupes que le gouvernement avait alors sur pied, et qu’il y aurait lieu de tout espérer même sans secours étranger, pourvu que les Anglais affidés prissent de leur côté de justes mesures.’ See Colin, Louis XV. et les Jacobites, p. 1.

[27] For Sempill’s descent and claim to the title, see Appendix, p. 421.

[28] See infra, p. 21.

[29] See infra, p. 25.

[30] A. G. M. Macgregor, History of the Clan Gregor, vol. ii. p. 358.

[31] Of the Associators only three were ‘out’ in the ’Forty-five: the Duke of Perth, Lovat, and Lochiel. Lord John Drummond, who was brother-in-law of Traquair, remained inactive. Prince Charles spent the night of February 2nd, 1746, at his house, Fairnton, now Ferntower, near Crieff. Lord Traquair remained in England; he was arrested at Great Stoughton in Huntingdonshire, on July 29th, 1746, and committed to the Tower; but was released without trial before August 1748. Traquair’s brother, John Stuart, married in 1740 and retired from the Concert then. Sir James Campbell was too old for action. Macgregor of Balhaldies was in Paris during the campaign.

[32] The name ‘Macgregor’ was then proscribed, and all members of the clan had to adopt another name; that adopted by Balhaldy’s branch was ‘Drummond.’ Balhaldy’s father, Alexander, was a man of some consequence. He had been a trader about Stirling, and made some money, and he married a daughter of Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel, his son Balhaldy being thus a first cousin of Lochiel of the ’45. In 1714 the Clan Gregor being chiefless, certain of its leading members elected Alexander to be hereditary chief. (A. G. M. Macgregor, Hist. of Clan Gregor, vol. ii. p. 270.) He was created a Scots baronet by the Chevalier in 1740, and he died at Balhaldie House, Dunblane, in 1749. His son, William, was born in 1698. Though never in Scotland after 1743 he was attainted in 1746, and specially exempted from the act of indemnity of 1747. He married Janet, daughter of Laurence Oliphant of Gask, at Paris in January 1758. He died near Paris in 1765.

[33] The designation Balhaldy is spelt variously in contemporary documents, Bohaldy, Bochaldie, Bahady, etc. Cf. R. L. Stevenson’s Catriona, last chapter.

[34] War was declared with Spain, October 19th, 1739.

[35] Abridged from a State Paper in the French archives, of which portions are printed in Capitaine J. Colin’s Louis XV. et les Jacobites: Paris, 1901.

[36] The Emperor Charles VI. died on October 20th, 1740, and France interfered in the War of the Austrian Succession the following August.

[37] Colin, p. 7.

[38] A. G. M. Macgregor, Hist. of Clan Gregor, vol. ii. p. 359.

[39] Colin, p. 8.

[40] Lord Marischal wrote to the Chevalier in June 1740, telling him that the King of Spain had refused an audience to the Duke of Ormonde on this account. Mahon, Hist. of England, 3rd ed., vol. iii. App. p. iv.

[41] Se infra, pp. 12, 22.

[42] ‘Le roi très chrétien, touché du zèle des Ecossais, était porté à leur accorder les secours dont ils avaient besoin: qu’en conséquence, Sa Majesté voulait bien faire transporter dans ce royaume toutes les troupes irlandaises qui étaitent à son service, avec les armes et munitions et les 20,000 livres sterling qu’on demandait pour aider les montagnards à se mettre en campagne’ (Colin, p. 8).

[43] This document is printed by the special permission of the French Government. The original signed and sealed with seven seals is preserved in the National Archives in Paris.

[44] It was very disappointing to find that no trace of this list of Highland chiefs referred to could be discovered.

[45] Balhaldy’s Memorial, History of Clan Gregor, vol. ii. p. 359.

[46] See Appendix, p. 422.

[47] He died on January 29th (18th O.S.).

[48] That Fleury had proposed something is most probable. He had for some time been complaining of the ‘insults’—what to-day we call pin-pricks—with which the British Government had been annoying France in a time of peace. These pin-pricks culminated in June 1742 when a British army under Lord Stair landed in the Netherlands, with the intention of thwarting the French in their campaign against Austria.

[49] Infra, p. 16 n.

[50] ‘Il n’y a pas grand inconvénient que le ministre voie que le rempart de la mer ne met pas entièrement l’Angleterre à couvert des enterprises de la France.’

[51] Colin, p. 35.

[52] Infra, pp. 41, 42.

[53] Memorials, pp. 93, 428.

[54] The Affairs of Scotland, 1744-46, by Lord Elcho. Edited by Hon. Evan Charteris: Edinburgh, 1907, p. 63. Lord Elcho gives a list of members of the club who undertook to join the Prince in any event.

[55] Memorials, p. 64.

[56] Anxious to learn the sources of this information, I wrote to the author of the volume to inquire, and received a courteous letter informing me that these statements were made on the authority of the Stuart Papers.

[57] Memorials, p. 444.

[58] Infra, p. 116.

[59] Trial of Lord Lovat, p. 36.

[60] Memorials, p. 50.

[61] Life of the Duke of Cumberland: London, 1766, p. 242.

[62] Lord Macleod wrote a Narrative of the campaign, including the march to Thurso. It is printed in Sir Wm. Fraser’s Earls of Cromartie, vol. ii. pp. 379 et seq.

[63] P. 123.

[64] Chiefs of Grant, vol. ii. p. 155.

[65] Family information.

[66] See The Earl of Aberdeen, by the Hon. A. Gordon, p. 4: London, 1893.

[67] Cumin of Kininmont, Gordon of Cobairdie, and Erskine of Pittodrie.

[68] See Blackwood’s Magazine for May 1829.

[69] Scottish Historical Review, vol. v. p. 288.

[70] Chiefs of Grant, vol. ii. p. 152.

[71] Spalding Club Misc., vol. i. p. 403.

[72] Ibid., p. 406.

[73] Compare p. 189.

[74] MS. Order Book in Editor’s possession. The story is told with considerable fulness in Henderson’s Life of Cumberland (p. 239), where the schoolmaster’s name is given as Macaty, and where the blame of the sentence is ascribed to Hawley. The punishment was five hundred lashes at each of the cantonments.

[75] In a biographical appendix to his Life of Colonel Gardiner who was killed at Prestonpans. (London, 1747.)

[76] Original correspondence on the relations between the Prince and Lord George Murray, together with references to contemporary authorities on the battle of Culloden, will be found in the Itinerary of Prince Charles Edward, Scot. Hist. Soc., vol. xxiii., 1897.

[77] Scottish History Society, vol. xxiii.

[78] For Flora Macdonald’s relationships, see Genealogical Table, p. 452.

[79] See Lyon in Mourning, vol. i p. 176.

[80] Ibid., vol. ii. p. 100.

[81] Cf. infra, p. 372 n. 2.

[82] Ruvigny, Jacobite Peerage.

[83] This letter, dated Kinlochiel, August 22nd, arrived after Sir James Grant went to London, and was forwarded to him. He sent it unopened to Lord Tweeddale, Secretary for Scotland. The letter is preserved in the Tweeddale Archives.

[84] Urquhart and Glenmoriston: Inverness, 1893.

[85] P. 271.

[86] Pp. 275-276.

[87] Pp. 292-294.

[88] Pp. 307-309.

[89] Chiefs of Grant, vol. ii. p. 267.

[90] High Court Index Book No. 1.

[91] Scots Magazine, vol. ix. pp. 246, 247.

[92] The name in the original documents is spelt sometimes with one s and sometimes with one t, sometimes with one or both these letters doubled; occasionally he is called ‘Grosert.’ In modern times the name is spelt Grosett by Miss Collins, a descendant of Walter. In the new Scots Peerage it is spelt Grosset, vol. i. p. 495.

[93] Newcastle Papers, British Museum, Add. MS. 32710, f. 491.

[94] Record Office, State Papers Dom., George II., Bundle 98.

[95] Newcastle Papers, previously quoted.

[96] Family Papers.

[97] See pp. 336 and 402. Grossett’s statement, corroborated by Fawkener and Sharpe, is elaborated in the Newcastle Papers quoted above. ‘He performed his duties at great hazard to his life. The Rebells robbed and plundered his house at Alloa and his house in the country [Logie] to such a degree that they did not leave his infant children even a shirt to shift them, and pursued his wife and daughter to an uncle’s house, to whose estate they knew Mr. Grosett was to succeed, plundered that house [Bredisholm, near Coatbridge], stript his wife and daughter of the very clothes they had upon their backs and used them otherwise in a most cruel and barbarous manner.’

[98] Scots Magazine, vol. vii. p. 538.

[99] Record Office, State Papers Dom., George II., bundle 91.

[100] This is one of the very rarest of Jacobite pamphlets. There is a long account of the harsh proceedings of the Edinburgh magistrates towards Robert Drummond, the Jacobite printer who published the poem, in Hugo Arnot’s History of Edinburgh, 1778, book III. chap. iv. See also Book of the Old Edinburgh Club, vol. viii., in which the poem is reprinted for the first time.

[101] Mr. J. R. N. Macphail, K.C., has sent me a copy of Accusations laid against Grossett in December 1747. These are nine in number: he is accused (1) Of keeping an open trade at Alloa for smugglers ‘particularly in the tobacco way.’ (2) Of secreting the public revenue for a tract of years and of vitiating and forging the accounts. (3) Of granting land permits for wine to smugglers all over the kingdom. (4) Of arranging false prices with merchants who purchased at roup goods seized from smugglers. (5) Of suborning evidence even to perjury in connection with the sale of goods taken from the Rebels. (6) Of being an accomplice of smugglers in trade and profits. (7) Of passing goods after seizure and of accepting a bribe. (8) Of mutilating the books of the public office. (9) Of fraud, circumvention and oppression in many different cases.

[102] Scots Peerage, vol. i. p. 495.

[103] The Jacobite accounts of this incident will be found in Jacobite Memoirs, p. 47; in Maxwell of Kirkconnell’s Narrative, p. 94; and in Sir William Fraser’s The Earls of Cromartie, vol. ii. p. 390.

[104] Home, History of the Rebellion, ch. viii.

[105] See Appendix, Cardinal York’s Memorial.

[106] Lyon in Mourning, vol. iii. p. 232.

[107] Lent to me by Lumisden’s great-grand-niece, Mrs. G. E. Forbes, Edinburgh.

[108] The winter of 1741-42.

[109] Charles (Stuart), 5th Earl of Traquair; succeeded 1741; died 1764.

[110] See Appendix.

[111] William Macgregor or Drummond of Balhaldy.

[112] James Edgar, secretary to the Chevalier de St. George. A younger son of David Edgar of Keithock, Forfarshire. Entered the Chevalier’s service as secretary 1716, and held that office for forty-seven years. Became Secretary of State in October 1763, and died 24th September 1764, predeceasing his master by fifteen months.

[113] Cardinal André Hercule de Fleury. Born 1653; became French prime minister in 1726; died in January 1743.

[114] Donald Cameron, 19th of Lochiel, ‘the Gentle Lochiel’ of the ’45. He succeeded his grandfather as chief of the Camerons in 1719, his father John (who died 1748) having transferred his rights to his son. Donald Cameron died in France, 1748.

[115] Sir James Campbell of Auchenbreck, 5th Baronet; died 1756; father-in-law of Donald Cameron of Lochiel. His wife was Janet, daughter of John Macleod of Macleod, and aunt of Norman Macleod the chief in 1745.

[116] Charles (Douglas), 3rd Duke; born 1698; succeeded 1711; died 1778.

[117] William (Douglas), 3rd Earl of March; succeeded his cousin as 4th Duke of Queensberry; died unmarried 1810. The ‘Old Q’ of George III.’s reign.

[118] George (Keith), 10th and last Earl Marischal; born 1694; succeeded 1712. Joined Lord Mar in 1715, and commanded the right wing of the Jacobite army at Sheriffmuir. Forfeited and attainted. Participated in the Spanish Invasion of 1719. See Dickson, The Jacobite Attempt of 1719, Scot. Hist. Soc., vol. xix. In 1744 was residing near Boulogne. Took no part in 1745. Entered service of Frederick the Great. Pardoned by George II., 1759; died at Potsdam, unmarried, 1778.

[119] James Keith, brother of the 10th Earl Marischal; born 1696. Attainted for participation in the ’15. Entered the Spanish army, and in 1728 the Russian army with the rank of major-general. Although an attainted Jacobite, he visited London in 1740, and was received by George II. as a Russian general (Scots Mag., vol. ii. p. 43). In 1747 entered service of Frederick the Great as field-marshal. Killed at the battle of Hochkirchen 1758.

[120] And likewise to settle a correspondence with Scotland the manner in which we had formerly conveyed Letters being very precarious and at the same time so much suspected that the Government had caused search the Ships in which the Letters generally came, but by good fortune their happened none to be aboard that time.

[121] Æneas Macdonald, a banker in Paris, fourth son of Ranald Macdonald third of Kinlochmoidart. Accompanied Prince Charles to Scotland. Surrendered in 1746. Condemned to death but pardoned on condition of residing out of the United Kingdom. Was killed in France during the Revolution.

[122] Amelot de Chaillou. French foreign minister, 1737 to 1744.

[123] Katharine Darnley, half-sister of the Chevalier; daughter of James II., by Katherine Sedley. Born 1682; died 1743. Third wife of John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham, who died 1721.

[124] Colonel William Cecil. Long the Jacobite agent in England. Relationship uncertain. In a memorandum in the French Foreign Office he is called ‘oncle de Lord Salisbury.’ Was apprehended in 1744. His deposition, in which he denies all knowledge of a plot, is given in Fitzroy Bell’s Murray’s Memorials, p. 408.

[125] Secretary of the Duchess of Buckingham.

[126] Charles Smith, a merchant or banker in Boulogne. His wife, daughter of Sir Hugh Paterson of Bannockburn (Prince Charles’s host when besieging Stirling Castle in January 1746), was aunt to Clementina Walkenshaw. Their son married the heiress of Seton of Touch. The ceremony was performed by Mr. William Harper of Edinburgh at Linlithgow on the day of the battle of Prestonpans. Charles Smith, who had come to Scotland for the event, posted out from Edinburgh bearing the news of the victory to the Jacobite congregation.—Ingram, A Jacobite Stronghold of the Church, p. 47.

[127] I daresay the Cardinal never shed a tear on that Account nor indeed allowing his concern to be never so great I think it reasonable to believe so great a minister would act the part of a Child.

[128] If he had so mean an Opinion of these folks and their memorials were so rediculous as they are represented he must either have been quite doated and consequently not capable to understand anything otherwise it would have been no difficult matter to make him sensible of the absurdity of their proposals.

[129] Maréchal de Maillebois, a great-nephew of Colbert; commander-in-chief in the War of the Austrian Succession.

[130] If this was the cause of his death I must be of the Opinion of a great many that he was then become an old woman and incapable of any enterprise that required Courage and Activity, and indeed all the world with these two Gentlemen themselves owned him to be of a very frightened timorous Disposition.

[131] It was at this Time Mr. Drummond told me the Story of the Sweedish Troops and the Discoveries of it made by the Queen of Spain, which I shall relate at large afterwards. (See post, p. 22.)

[132] This thought was the least reason could assign to Mr. Amalot for my coming over, as I could not tell him it was owing to a letter we had received from Mr. D[rummond], which I have repented of since, for I told him if he was instructed by the Cardinal, as they said, he certainly would have let me see that these Gentlemen had no reason to give such encouragements, which would have at once shewed them in their True Light. This Mr. Drummond and Lord Semple insisted I should say to excite the French to Action and I then did not think it any great crime to use them as they had often done us by imposing upon them.

[133] I shall leave it to the Reader to determine how far this answer of Mr. Amelot agrees with what Mr. D[rummond] advances in his Letter and if it be at all reasonable to imagine that the Cardinal had resolved upon an Invasion when the person he had employed in this affair had never read the Memorial given in concerning it nor even understood the manner in which it was concerted and carried on in Scotland and again whether or not Lord Semple had succeeded as he braged in preventing much delay by perswading the Cardinal to make Mr. Amelot privy to the whole affair.

[134] I mentioned before that the King had ordered a Sum not exceeding £900 Ster yearly to be payed to Sir J[ames] C[ampbell] provided money could be raised he had hitherto gott no more than £200 Lord T[ra]q[uai]r had payed him so I was instructed to know why it was not answered as promised, which I accordingly did, when Mr. Drummond said he thought it very odd that the people in Scotland could not give him that small pension when Lord T[ra]q[uai]r had offered Lord Semple credit for £1,000 the year before when in London. I told him people had little money to spare and that since the Gentlemen was in a manner starving I would write to the King about it as directed, upon which he said in a passion I had better not do it for it would hurt them in the King’s Eyes as it must look bad that people who profered doing so much could not advance such a trifle, and I remember he said the King would not fail to look upon them as tamperers which I never did mention to them looking upon it as the heat of passion. He then said as he had all along made it his Business to advance their Interest and Honour, he would fall upon a method of raising a sum of money to the Value of 5 or 6,000£ upon a bond payable at the Restoration with six per cent. of Interest and that D[uke of] P[erth] L[ord] T[ra]q[uai]r L[ochie]l and I should bind for it and that he would even endeavour to gett an equall sum for D[uke of] P[erth] on L[ord] T[ra]q[uai]r’s particular Use upon the same Conditions. As I then did not know my man I went on to what he proposed and did not write to the King about it, neither did I till after I found out the double fetch he had in it, he at this time was applying to have a Pension settled upon himself which my writing in behalf of Sir J[ames] C[ampbell] would certainly have prevented as the King had ordered him to stay at home in the view of receiving the forementioned Sum, then his proposing to raise this sum for the D[uke] of P[erth]’s use was a means to encourage him to advance him £100, which he desired I would tell his Grace he would draw upon him at my leaving London, which he accordingly gott.

[135] During all the time I was at London after my return from Paris I keept it secret from Coll. Cicel and Mr. Smith that I had ever been there, and gave it out that I had been in Kent making a visit to one Doctor Rutton, an old fellow student at Leyden, so upon the footing of my not knowing anything that was passing I told Coll. Cicel in Conversation upon my return to Scotland the King’s friends would inquire of me if I had not been to waite of him and what news I had gott so begg to know what I should say, he told me he at that time could say nothing positively but if the French did not do something soon the affairs of England in particular and Europe in general stood in such a way that in three moneth time he would order affairs so as to call the King over with his own attendance only this Vaunt was so rediculous that I had great difficulty to keep my Countinance and gave me a very low Opinion of every other thing he said.

[136] One evening after I had waited an hour in L[ord] T[ra]q[uai]r’s lodgings at Edinburgh till such time as he should come in to talk with me about his journey to London he told me he understood that I was no friend to Bishop Keith, and upon asking what ground he had to think so, he told me that one Mr. Gordon, a Roman Catholick Bishop, had informed him of it, it seems Bishop Keith was of his acquaintance had been complaining to him that I had not represented him in a favourable Light. By which I conjectured that Keith had been applying that way to be named Bishop of Edinburgh for how should L[ord] J[ohn] Drummond have acquainted Lady Clanronald of Mr. Rattrae’s being named, which was a thing entirely foreign to both him and her if Keith had not been endeavouring to procure that preferment through the interest of the Roman Catholicks,[649] and Lord Drummond did write to Lady Clanronald that I had procured an order for Bishop Rattrae’s Election is certain, for it was by her means quite well known in Edinburgh before I came back from London and Lord T[ra]q[uai]r assured me from Bishop Gordon that L[ord] J[ohn] had wrote it to Lady Clanranald.

[137] My Lord T[ra]q[uai]r made all the dispatch possible to settle his affairs at home, being sensible how necessary it was for him to be att London and sett out from his own house on the sixth of Aprile.

[138] For this ecclesiastical episode in Murray’s career, see Appendix.

[139] Thomas Rattray, D.D., laird of Craighall-Rattray, Perthshire. Born 1684; consecrated bishop at large, 1727; afterwards Bishop of Brechin, and subsequently of Dunkeld; Primus, 1739; died 1743.

[140] See Introduction, p. xxiii.

[141] Thomas Cochrane; 6th earl; died 1737.

[142] Robert Freebairn, consecrated bishop at large, 1722; Primus, 1731; Bishop of Edinburgh, 1733; died 1739.

[143] Drumelzier, a Peebleshire estate adjoining Broughton. The proprietor was then Alexander Hay of Drumelzier, and Whittinghame, East Lothian (the latter now the property of Rt. Hon. A. J. Balfour); a grandson of the 1st Earl of Tweeddale, ancestor of the Hays of Duns: born 1701; died 1789. He and his brother William were both Jacobites.

[144] I think there can be little doubt that this is the draft of the lost letter searched for in vain by Mr. Fitzroy Bell at Windsor (Murray’s Memorials, p. 50 n), and referred to by Mr. Lang (History of Scotland, iv. 441).

[145] As Traquair left on April 6th (see ante, p. 17 and post, p. 23) this letter was probably written in that month. Narsom is a cipher name for John Murray.

[146] Robert Keith, kinsman and tutor of the 10th Earl Marischal and his brother: born 1681; consecrated bishop at large, 1727; Bishop of Orkney, Caithness and the Isles, 1731; Superintendent of Fife, 1733; succeeded Rattray as Primus, 1743; died 1757. Author of a History of Scotland, and of the well-known Catalogue of Scottish Bishops.

[147] James (Barry), 4th Earl of Barrymore. Born 1667; died 1747. An ardent Jacobite, who sent his son to join the French army when the invasion of 1744 was expected.

[148] French minister in London.

[149] It wont be amiss to insert here the Story mentioned before about the design of sending over some Swedish Troops which my Lord T[ra]q[uai]r mentioned to me on his return from London the last time he went up. Mr. Drummond told me at Paris as an Instance of the sincere intention the Cardinal had to serve the King, that he was sensible of the great hatred the English bore to the French and for that reason proposed to the Spanish Ambassador at Paris, Campo Florido, that provided his master would take 10,000 Swedes into his pay he would endeavour to procure them by the means of some of the chief nobility, the King[650] not being to be trusted on that head as he was looked upon as friends to the Family of Hanover and would take care to have them transported, that the Spanish Ambassador immediately wrote to his Master who sent back an answer Willing to pay the Troops but upon some condition which I now cannot charge my memory with, this the Cardinal took highly amiss and told him that his Master was not to bargain with in such cases, upon which the Spanish Ambassador immediately dispatched a Courier, but before the return of it their was a paragraph in the Amsterdam Gazette telling that the King of Spain and some of his Ministers were carrying on a scheme of great consequence but being known by the Queen was prevented. It seems as he said the Queen had been informed of it by some of the Ministers and judging that should it be putt in execution it would necessarily putt an end to war with England that she was very fond of and to putt a stop to it she putt in that paragraph in the Amsterdam Gazette to the Cardinal which had its object for their was not any more mention made of it.

[150] It was no great wonder then I was deceived of his Lordship having not the least reason to suspect, and he a little shy cunning fellow on all occasions professing an attachment to nothing but truth and most disinterested loyalty.

[151] This must have proceded from wrong information for since that time they have made considerable levys and everybody agrees their are not above ten or eleven thousand in the Island.

[152] i.e. George II.

[153] This was in the year 1737. If Gordon of Glenbucket went over to Rome, so far as ever I could learn without having any authority from the Gentlemen in the Highlands, unless it was from his son-in-law Glengary and General Gordon,[651] praying the King to come to Scotland that all were ready to rise in arms; but His Majesty was too wise to give in to such a rash and inconsiderate a project and sent over Captain Will Hay[652] to have the Opinion of his friends by which he might judge how far what Glenbucket had said was to be credited. Mr. Hay sent for me then in Holland and insisted upon my coming which I did, but I believe found few people of Glenbucket’s Opinion save the late Lord Kinmore[653] who I went to the Country and brought to toun to see him; but the case was now greatly altered as all the World were becoming sensible of; that the Interest of Great Britain must ever be sacrificed to that of Hanover as long as this family continued upon the Throne; that Parliamentary Schemes were nothing but Chimerical, together with the few Troops that were left in the Island and the distance they were then from the Coast which prevented their coming in time before the Country was reduced; as likewise the miserable prospect of the Country being ruined by the vast standing Army that would necessarily follow upon a peace as the Levys during the War would be considerable and no prospect of a reduction after their Return but rather a Certainty of their being continued; this seeming the fairest opportunity to bring us under a military Government. These and many other reasons made L[ochie]l be of Opinion that now was the time to strike a bold stroke for the King, and by Sir A[lexander] M[acdonald]’s letter to the Duke of P[erth], it would seem these reasons did influence him and were sufficient Grounds for the proposal.

[154] John (Lindsay), 20th earl, born 1702. Entered Russian army; was badly wounded at Krotzka, 1739, fighting the Turks, and never properly recovered. First colonel of the 43rd (afterwards 42nd) Highlanders. Brig.-gen. at Fontenoy; maj.-gen. 1745. Came to Scotland February 1746, and commanded the Hessian troops under the Prince of Hesse in Stirling and Perthshire. Died 1749.

[155] Née Hon. Anne Stewart, daughter of Alexander, 6th Lord Blantyre. Died March 1743.

[156] i.e. John Murray.

[157] This is evidently the letter that Murray complains bitterly Traquair showed to Balhaldy, and on his advice destroyed (Murray’s Memorials, pp. 58-60).

[158] This Letter I wrote in the smoothest stile possible purposely to show him that the King’s friends were so far from having any Inclination to Dictate to him, that on the Contrary they wished by all means to have him Heartily to promote the Restoration, and shewed the letter to Lord T[ra]q[uai]r and L[ochiel]l before I gave it his Lordship to carry and they both approved of it.

[159] I had mentioned in my Letter to the King that the Ship by which our Letters used to come was much suspected and had been searched, so one of my Errands was to have a new Conveyance settled which was done from London to Paris by Mr. D[rummond] but could be so easily done from London here.

[160] His Grace the Duke of P[erth] when I had the honour of seeing him at York on my Road, desired I would acquaint his Majesty that he had a Scheme for taking Stirling Castle and desired His Majesty would impower him upon the Seizing of it to give a commission to whom he should think fitt to name as Governour for the Time it was garrisoned with his men as they would the more willingly obey if the Commander was named by him, but told me no particulars of his project neither did he since when I told him what the King had wrote.

[161] Mr. Edgar having wrote about it in a former Letter occasioned my telling him that it was borrowed by Lord T[ra]q[uair].

[162] A frequent cipher name for the Chevalier de St. George.

[163] Mr. Drummond told when at Paris that the method he had taken with the Gentlemen of the highlands was this. He talked to them of the situation of the Country and that a Restoration was the only thing would save us, with a great deal more to this purpose, which brought all those that inclined that way to declare how sensible they were of it and that they were very willing to promote it so soon as an Occasion should offer; upon which he told them that it was impossible for the King to undertake any things not knowing who were his friends and that he thought they should take care to acquaint the King of it, then it was natural for them to say they were contented his Majesty was informed it, but did not know of a method how; upon which he told them that he would not absolutely promise, but would endeavour to fall upon a method to acquaint him. This I took to be a safe way for the person that engaged them and as his Majesty was not quite satisfied with it as he said he desired me to write my Opinion of it which to the best of my Remembrance was in a few words, that I thought no Body would be so rediculous as to inform against themselves by telling they had given a Commission to such a person to ye King as it must redound to their own disadvantage for as their was none present when the matter was spoke off to a person that was to deliver it had no more to do but deny it and his not engaging absolutely to make it known was keeping his correspondence a secret, for which reasons I was then of opinion that the same method might be followed in the Low Country, but upon trial found it almost impossible and dangerous, first, because the Generallity are not so loyally inclined as in the Highlands and consequently not so easily brought to speak their mind, and the next place they have no following, they Generally tell you, of what use is the King’s knowing that I wish him well, I am only single Person, that can be of little Service, thirdly the present Government has been at pain to perswade people; the King is betrayed and that passes at Rome, but what they are fully informed off which makes people shy and affraid to have any dealings that way as they are near the Court of Justice and less able to shift for themselves, and fourthly, when a number of those people come to be spoke to they will some of them especially who are not brought all length in confidence impart to the other that such a man talked so and so, whereby the thing may come to be known and render it dangerous for the persons, all this occur’d to me upon serious reflection and found the difficulty of it, upon talking to some with folks here in that stile after my return and succeeded with none but two Mr. N. of D—n and Mr. C—r of Cr—g—th,[654] the last of which was drunk and repented next day for which I gave it up.

[164] A non-juring minister at Edinburgh; father of Lord Eskgrove.

[165] Sir Alexander Macdonald of Sleat (Skye), 7th baronet. His first wife was Anne Erskine (died 1735), widow of James (Ogilvy), 4th de jure Earl of Airlie (died 1731). The Earl of Airlie mentioned here was his brother, 5th de jure earl (died 1761). He remained passive during the ’45, but his son Lord Ogilvy raised two battalions for Prince Charles.

[166] Henry, Duke of York, afterwards cardinal.

[167] I cannot now recollect from whom I had that information, but it was such that in the time I had reason to Credit it.

[168] This was owing to Sir A[lexander] M[acdonald] having promised for a number supperior to what Mr. Drummond had marked him down for and at the same time as some folks were laying to his Charge we did not believe it was thought fitt to say something favourable of him as we had an entire confidence in his honesty.

[169] Bishop Rattray died at Edinburgh, May 12, 1743.

[170] Battle of Dettingen, fought 16th June old style, or 27th new style, 1743.

[171] The Highland Regiment, originally the 43rd and afterwards the 42nd, was raised in the name of John, 20th Earl of Crawford (then lying wounded at Belgrade), in 1739, and first embodied 1740. It was sent to London in 1743, and there its members, who understood on enlistment that their service was for the Highlands only, were persuaded that the Government intended to send them to the plantations or to sell them into slavery. When encamped at Highgate more than two hundred of them left the camp by night in May 1743 and started to march to Scotland. They were overtaken and surrounded when near Oundle in Northamptonshire; they surrendered and were marched prisoners to the Tower. Three of their leaders were executed, Corporals Samuel and Malcolm Macpherson and private Farquhar Shaw, all of Clan Chattan.

[172] There had been heavy recruiting for the Scots Brigade in the service of the Netherlands.

[173] Sir Thomas Gordon of Earlston, 3rd baronet, whose grandfather (killed at Bothwell Bridge) and father were eminent Covenanter leaders. Murray hoped to secure the adherence of the Cameronian Covenanters through Gordon and Dr. Cochran (see p. 51) and others. Cf. Murray’s Memorials, p. 54.

[174] Sir James Stewart; see Appendix.

[175] David (Wemyss), Lord Elcho, eldest son of James, 4th Earl of Wemyss. Joined Prince Charles at Edinburgh and served through the campaign. Forfeited, and lived in exile until his death in 1787. See his Memoir by Hon. Evan Charteris, prefaced to A Short Account of the Affairs of Scotland, 1744-46.

[176] Norman Macleod of Macleod, nineteenth chief; born 1706; died 1772. He engaged to join Prince Charles although he came alone; but he changed his mind, was the first to communicate the Prince’s landing to the Lord President, and was the vindictive foe of Prince Charles throughout the whole adventure.

[177] This was Alexander (or Alistair), Lord Lovat’s second son, by his wife Margaret Grant, sister of Sir James Grant of Grant. Born 1729, died unmarried 1762.

The school at Prestonpans was kept by Mr. John Halket who had been tutor in Lovat’s family at Castle Downie. Peggy Vint’s was a tavern in Prestonpans. Alexander Carlyle gives an account of an extraordinary carouse there in 1741, at which Lovat, Erskine of Grange, Halket, four Fraser henchmen, young Lovat, Halket’s son, and Carlyle were present. Lovat said Grace in French, and he ‘swore more than fifty dragoons’ at the fish. The claret was excellent and circulated fast. There was a piper at the tavern, and the landlady’s daughter Kate was ‘very alluring.’ Lovat, then seventy-five, and Grange not much younger, warmed with wine, insisted on dancing a reel with Kate Vint: ‘this was a scene not easily forgotten.’ A banquet at Grange’s house of Preston, with a ‘new deluge of excellent claret,’ finished what Carlyle calls ‘a very memorable day.’—Carlyle, Autobiography, p. 58.

[178] About this time Sir J. Ca[mpbe]ll had the misfortune to have his house burnt and lost everything in it, even to his Body Cloaks. The deplorable situation he was in, never having received any of the money promised him save 200£ call for immediate assistance, and still the more so, that he had from time to time borrowed Money upon his Honour to Return it in such a time, as he had always reason to expect his pension wou’d answer, his failing in which necessarly weakened his Interest in the Country, for two reasons: 1st that he had no money to enable him to entertain and visit his neighbours, and 2ndly So he was not able to keep his word to them from whom he had borrowed it. Both shaggerined him and naturally made him the less confided in other matters, for which reasons I wrote presently to my Lord T[ra]q[uai]r, to write Mr. Drummond then at London, that the money might be gott as he then had the bond I mentioned before in his Custody, but he still putt it off by saying that nothing could be done in it till he went over, as the money was to be gott in france, which was a most rediculous reason, for he told me in paris that it was through Lord Semple he was to find it, which had it been the Case there was no occasion for the things being delayed till he went over, as he was to have no influence but ought to have sent it to Lord Semple. However I don’t believe it will be found upon inquiring yt, Lord Semple knew any thing of the matter for Mr. Drummond would not agree that I should mention the thing to him when at paris, so that I am fully convinced that it was as I have said befor, all a fetch to prevent writing to the King about it, for fear that he should be disapointed of the 4,000 Livres a year he has since got settled upon him.

[179] Lord Lovat must surely have been deceiving or deceived. It was the proud boast of the Monroes that the clan had remained constant to Covenanting principles and to the Protestant succession, being the only Whig clan that never wavered. The Munroes were the only Highlanders who joined Cope on his march to Inverness in 1745.

[180] John Boyle, 5th earl; succeeded as 5th Earl of Cork, 1751; a man of letters; friend of Swift, Pope, and Johnson; died 1762.

[181] Of Wynnstay, 3rd Baronet, M.P. for Denbigh, an ardent Jacobite, almost openly avowed.

[182] 7th February 1744.

[183] He is marry’d to a sister of mine, and upon the Change of the Ministry was made keeper of the Signet, through the Marquiss of Tweedales Interest in the Room of Mr. Mcmillan the Writer.

[184] Thomas Hay of Huntington, East Lothian, advocate; Keeper of the Signet, 1742-46; raised to the Bench as Lord Huntington 1754. His brother, John Hay of Restalrig, W.S., succeeded John Murray as Secretary to Prince Charles on Murray’s falling ill at Inverness, in 1746.

[185] Robert Dundas of Arniston, first President Dundas; born 1685; was Lord Advocate, 1720-25; raised to the Bench as Lord Arniston 1737; became Lord President on the death of Duncan Forbes of Culloden 1748; died 1753. He was the father of Henry (Dundas), 1st Lord Melville.

[186] Sir John Inglis of Cramond, Postmaster-General of Scotland.

[187] Alexander Arbuthnott of Knox, merchant in Edinburgh; grandson of the 1st Viscount Arbuthnott; became Commissioner of Customs 1742; died 1769.

[188] Andrew Fletcher, Lord Milton, nephew of Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun the great opposer of the Union. Born 1692; elevated to Scottish Bench 1724; Lord-Justice-Clerk 1735-48; died 1766.

[189] Joshua Guest, born 1660; Lieut.-General 1745; died 1747. This is the only categorical statement which I am aware of that Guest was Commander-in-Chief in Scotland before the appointment of Sir John Cope (18th February 1744). Cf. Book of Old Edinburgh Club, 1909, p. 17.

[190] Hunter of Polmood was buried in Drumelzier Churchyard on Thursday, February 23, 1744, which dates this incident. His son, Charles Hunter, was married to Murray’s sister, Veronica.

[191] William M‘Dougall, wine merchant in Edinburgh, a brother-in-law of John Murray’s. See Memorials, pp. 66, 301, 311.

[192] Probably Dr. Cochran of Roughfoil, a physician in Edinburgh. He may have been a connection of Murray’s, whose aunt Margaret was married to Alex. Cochran of Barbachlaw. Cf. Memorials, pp. 38, 54.

[193] John M‘Leod of Muiravonside, Stirlingshire, an advocate. His son, Alexander, was A.D.C. to Prince Charles.

[194] Hartree, a Peeblesshire estate, in Kilbucho Parish, about seven miles from Broughton. The laird of Hartree, John Dickson, was married to Murray’s aunt Anne.

[195] French Fleet wrecked, 25th February old style, 7th March new style, 1744.

[196] On this occasion, as on a subsequent escape from capture, the Duke took refuge in the Invercauld country. See post, p, 271.

[197] Charles Stewart, 5th of Ardshiel, a cadet of Appin. He led out the Stewarts of Appin in 1745. Fled to France after Culloden, and died 1757. (He is the chief for whom Alan Breck collected rents. See Kidnapped, by R. L. Stevenson, chap. ix.)

[198] Balhaldy.

[199] Probably House of Commons.

[200] Balhaldy.

[201] Balhaldy.

[202] The names in this letter have been deciphered partly by comparison with other ciphers; partly from information given by Murray in his Memorials; occasionally by conjecture, in which last case the word ‘probably’ is prefixed.

[203] Sempill or Balhaldy.

[204] Probably 21st September 1744. Murray wrote two letters to Prince Charles from Senlis, on 21st September (which was a Wednesday). Both are given in Murray’s Memorials, pp. 376, 379.

[205] Probably Captain Clephan of Villegass’s Regiment, the second Scots regiment in the service of the Netherlands. See Murray’s Memorials, pp. 101, etc., for this, and following notes.

[206] Prince Charles.

[207] Rotterdam.

[208] Captain Anderson, also of Villegass’s Regiment.

[209] Officers of his regiment (probably).

[210] Colyear’s, that is the regiment of the Hon. W. P. Colyear, son of the 1st Earl of Portmore, Colonel of the third Scots regiment in the Netherlands.

[211] Lord Elcho.

[212] Prince Charles.

[213] Probably 30th September 1744.

[214] Dr. Barry.

[215] Probably Adam Cockburn, a hosier in Johnstone’s Court, Charing Cross. See Murray’s Memorials, p. 454.

[216] Not quite intelligible, something probably omitted, but apparently meaning that letters for the Prince are to be addressed to the care of ‘Morris,’ an occasional pseudonym for Charles Smith of Boulogne.

[217] Prince Charles.

[218] The King of France.

[219] Probably the English.

[220] Probably the Scots.

[221] A Restoration.

[222] Earl of Traquair.

[223] Scotland.

[224] Scotland.

[225] Perhaps ‘Skye’ referring to the clan of Sir Alexander Macdonald, who was then in collusion with the Jacobites.

[226] Prince Charles.

[227] Probably Nisbet of Dirleton. See Murray’s Memorials, p. 103.

[228] Probably England.

[229] Earl of Traquair.

[230] Sir James Steuart.

[231] Duke of Perth.

[232] Lochiel.

[233] Duke of Perth.

[234] Earl of Traquair.

[235] Prince Charles.

[236] Probably English and Scots.

[237] Macleod of Macleod.

[238] Sir James Steuart.

[239] Probably young Glengarry (whom Mr. Andrew Lang identifies as Pickle the Spy).

[240] N.B.—I am satisfyd the reason for their so doing was that they found themselves blown, and imagined Mr. Burnet would soon drop them, for which they were resolved to prevent him by refusing to Act, and thereby give themselves the Air of significancy. As for the reason they give, in my Opinion it is inexpressibly frivelous and even betraying of their own want of a hearty Zeal, for their Masters Interest. For had I, either from Roguery, Ignorance, or folly, deceived Mr. Burnet in what I said, it was no reason for their Giving up a Scheme of such Extensive consequence, which plainly shows its not from principle they Act. At the same time I cannot see the least ground to believe they had any scheme going on, as they kept no correspondance with any of the Ministers save Mr. Orri,[655] as I was informed whose department did not lead him to treat of such like matters, neither was there then the least thing for an Expedition. As to my advice to Mr. Burnet, it is sufficient he knew it to be in every sense absolutely false, but the view they had in so doing is too obvious not to be seen through. They knew Kinny was just going over, and, as he is a man of Consequence in the Country, could they have influenced him against me they would thereby have broke the force of my Representations, being satisfied I would not fail in my arrival here to make known their shameful procedure to Mr. Edwards friends, and I must observe since at it was a very convenient time as Mr. Burnet seemed resolved to make the Money they promised to procure for Arms, the touchstone of their Veracity, and the frenches sincerity, so that their refusing to act at that time prevented the Sd—v believing them baffled men.

[241] Captain John Drummond, a nephew of Balhaldy’s.

[242] Prince Charles.

[243] Prince Charles.

[244] King.

[245] Rome.

[246] The Chevalier de St. George.

[247] Duke of Perth.

[248] Earl of Traquair.

[249] Lochiel.

[250] Scotland.

[251] James Fea of Clestrain (or Clesterton), in Stronsay, constituted himself a Jacobite leader in Orkney and attempted to raise men for the Prince. In March 1746 when Lord Macleod took his regiment to Thurso, Mackenzie of Ardloch, invited by Fea, went over to Stromness to raise men and money. None of the islanders were willing to go out, and Ardloch declined to take unwilling recruits although Fea offered to press some men. Ardloch, however, carried off £145 of cess and a quantity of smuggled brandy. For his indiscretion, Fea’s house of Sound in the island of Shapinsay was burnt down in May by the crews of a squadron sent to hunt down Jacobites, while Fea concealed himself in Caithness until the passing of the Act of Indemnity. (See Allan Fea, The Real Captain Cleveland, p. 175; L. in M., ii. 337.)

[252] A battle fought at Altimarlach three miles west of Wick, in 1680, between George Sinclair of Keiss, afterwards 7th Earl of Caithness and Sir John Campbell of Glenurchy, afterwards 1st Earl of Breadalbane. Sinclair’s kinsman the 6th earl, falling into debt and having no children, had disponed his titles, property and heritable jurisdictions to Sir John Campbell, the principal creditor, who married the earl’s widow in 1678, having managed the previous year to secure a patent from Charles II. as Earl of Caithness. Sinclair of Keiss resisted his claims by force, and Campbell marched an army of his own men and some royal troops to Caithness. The first advantage was with the Sinclairs, who celebrated the event with drunken revelry aggravated by finding a whisky-laden ship strategically stranded by the Campbells in Wick harbour. Next day the Sinclairs were defeated. It was on this occasion that the air ‘The Campbells are coming’ was composed by Finlay Macivor the celebrated piper of Breadalbane. (Calder, Hist. of Caithness, p. 162.) The courts found later that Keiss (grandson of the 5th earl) was entitled to the Caithness earldom; Sir John Campbell was compensated by being created Earl of Breadalbane in 1681, but with the precedency of the Caithness grant 1677.

[253] This Mr. Gilchrist is scathingly treated in The Lyon (iii. 36). He went ‘to Edinburgh and thence to London to misrepresent and asperse the bulk of the Caithness gentry as enemies to the present establishment.’ He is further said to have collected 250 guineas for himself and to have made his friends ‘believe that he could not continue in Caithness for the wicked Jacobites who had threatened to take away his life and destroy his family.’ The writer, a non-juring minister, who had been a prisoner in London, adds sententiously ‘Honest Whigry that never thinks shame of lying for worldly interest!’

[254] George Sinclair of Geese, afterwards captured at Dunrobin, was the only Caithness Sinclair of position who joined the Jacobite army. Lord Macleod marched through Caithness in March 1746, but though the proprietors professed Jacobite sympathies, very few joined his standard. (Fraser, The Earls of Cromartie, ii. 398.)

[255] Sir James Stewart of Burray, Orkney, took no active part in the Rising, but he was apprehended on suspicion in May 1746, and taken prisoner to London, where he died of fever in the New Gaol, Southwark, the following August.

[256] George (Mackay), 3rd Lord Reay, b. 1678; suc. his grandfather c. 1680; supported government in 1715; was largely instrumental in establishing the presbytery of Tongue 1725; d. 1748.

[257] William (Gordon-Sutherland), 16th earl; b. 1708; suc. his grandfather 1720; d. 1750. His wife was Lady Elizabeth Wemyss, aunt of Lord Elcho of the ’45. His father acted vigorously against the Jacobites in ’15 and ’19.

[258] Assynt in ancient times was the territory of the MacNicols (or MacRyculs or Nicolsons), but in the time of David II. Torquil Macleod IV., of Lewis, married the heiress and obtained the lands. The MacNicols emigrated to Skye, where they have been for centuries. Macleod’s second son inherited Assynt, and there were twelve Macleod lairds. The last of these was Neil Macleod who was tried in 1666, and again in 1674, for betraying the great Marquis of Montrose and other crimes. He was acquitted, but, probably owing to the expense of the trials, he fell into debt, and was driven from his lands which were acquired by the Mackenzies. Cf. p. 107, n. 1.

[259] See post, p. 96.

[260] The writer is wrong here. It was the first earl’s grandfather, Sir Roderick Mackenzie (1579-1626), the terrible Tutor of Kintail who married Margaret heiress of Torquil Macleod of Lewis and Cogeach. George (Mackenzie), 1st Earl of Cromarty (1630-1714), was the antiquary. He was an original member of the Royal Society (London), founded 1662.

[261] See post, p. 104.

[262] A battle at Sgeir na Caillich on Lochalsh, between the Straits of Kylerhea and Kyleakin. According to the Clan Donald historians, the battle was fought in 1603. It was not Glengarry (Donald, 7th of Glengarry, who died in 1645, aged 102), but his eldest son Angus, ‘Young Glengarry,’ who was killed.

[263] Now called Glenshiel. The church was erected in the hamlet of Muick.

[264] It is hardly likely that the Macraes will accept this suggestion of descent without strong corroboration which does not seem to exist. A very different origin is given by the Rev. Roderick Morison, minister of Kintail in 1793: ‘It is generally allowed that the Mac Raes emigrated from the braes of Aird, on the Lovat estate, to this place, though what induced them to prefer the mountains to the plains is not universally agreed upon, yet certain it is, that long after their residence in Kintail, they maintained a firm alliance with the Frasers of Aird. The tradition which prevails, that an inscription was set up nigh the entrance to Lovat House, bearing “That no Mac Rae must lodge without, when a Fraser resides within,” is not wholly without foundation. When the Mac Raes first entered Kintail, there were several clans inhabiting it, particularly the Mac Aulays, of whom no vestige now remains. The Mac Lennans, a small tribe in the parish of Glensheal, were the only people that would not yield. These Mac Lennans, at the battle of Auldearn, were intrusted with Seaforth’s colours. The novelty of the preferment roused them to action and stubborn resistance, which proved fatal to the clan, for many were slain; and their widows, 18 in number, were afterwards married to Mac Raes. The boundaries which divide the Mac Raes from the Mac Lennans are marked by a river which runs into Lochduich; but common observation may easily trace a line of distinction from the difference in their language and accent.’ Mr. Morison gives the derivation of the name as Mhac Ragh, the son of good fortune, applied by the founder to his son after some successful exploits.—(Statistical Account of Scotland, vi. 242; the story of the great slaughter of Maclellans at Auldearn is modified by latest investigators.) The word Ragh or Rath may mean either ‘good fortune’ or ‘grace,’ and the latest clan historian, Rev. Alex. Macrae, is of opinion that the name has an ecclesiastical origin as the ‘son of grace’ applied to a holy man of old. Relying on tradition, he inclines to believe that the Macraes were from Clunes in the Aird and were of common origin with the Mackenzies and Macleans.

The Kintail Macraes were not out in ’45. There was, however, a certain Captain MacRaw in Glengarry’s regiment; he attended Prince Charles when in Lochaber during his wanderings; also a Lieut. Alexander M‘Ra from Banff; and one of the French officers taken prisoner at sea on the voyage to Scotland, was Captain James Macraith of Berwick’s regiment. Gilchrist Macgrath or M‘Kra entertained the Prince in Glen Shiel in his wanderings. Murdoch M‘Raw, ‘nearest relation to the chieftain of that name,’ was barbarously hanged as a spy at Inverness protesting his innocence. (L. in M., i. 205, 342; iii. 378; ii. 205, 299.)

[265] See Dickson, The Jacobite Attempt of 1719 (Scot. Hist. Soc., vol. xix.).

[266] The Long Island is the name given to the chain of the outer Hebrides from the Butt of Lewis to Barra Head, comprising Lewis and Harris, North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, Eriska, Barra and Mingulay.

[267] The story of the transference of the lands of the ancient and powerful family of Macleod of Lewis to the Mackenzies is one of the most pitiful in Highland history. Towards the middle of the sixteenth century, Roderick (or Ruari) Macleod, the last undisputed Macleod of Lewis, married, as his first wife, a natural daughter of John Mackenzie of Kintail. The wife eloped, the son, named Torquil Connanach, was repudiated. Torquil was brought up at Strath Connan (hence his ‘to-name’) by the Mackenzies, who embraced his cause. From that moment the family of Lewis was doomed. Partly by purchase, partly by marriage, but largely by intrigue and violence the lands of Macleod were acquired by the Mackenzies. Lewis was driven to anarchy; feuds of the worst type ensued, father against sons, brothers murdering brothers. Government interfered; Lewis was forfeited and parcelled out among Lowland colonist-adventurers, who were thwarted by the Mackenzies, and at last were glad to go, and in 1610 to dispose of their rights to Mackenzie, who had become Lord Kintail the previous year. Any rights that remained to his cousin Torquil Macleod were made over to the Mackenzies. Meantime, in 1605, Kintail’s brother Roderick had married the daughter and heiress of Torquil, and became possessed of the mainland property of Coigeach. As soon as the Mackenzies obtained the island, they promptly restored order; the remaining members of the old Macleod family were murdered or driven out under a commission of fire and sword. Kintail’s son became an earl in 1623, and took his title from Loch Seaforth in Lewis, while his uncle Roderick, tutor of Kintail, terrible and ruthless (of whom the Gaelic proverb says ‘there are two things worse than the Tutor of Kintail, frost in spring and mist in the dog-days’), built a castle in Strathpeffer, which he called Castle Leod, and when his grandson obtained the earldom of Cromarty in 1685, the second title then assumed was that of ‘Lord Macleod,’ to show that the heritage of the old family of Macleod of Lewis remained with him.

[268] Roderick Macneill of Barra was from home when Prince Charles landed in the neighbouring island of Eriska, July ’45. He took no active part in the rising but was arrested on suspicion in July ’46, taken to London, released in ’47.

[269] For the Macdonald divisions and claims, see Appendix,

[270] John Mackinnon of Mackinnon was the only one of the three Skye chiefs who went out. He joined with his clan at Edinburgh, and served throughout the campaign, but was absent on duty in Sutherland when Culloden was fought. He was attainted. Prince Charles went to him in his wanderings, and the chief conducted him from Skye to the mainland, for which service he was made prisoner, taken to London, but released in July ’47. He died in Skye, in ’56, aged 75 years. He was a son-in-law of Archbishop Sharpe of St. Andrews.

[271] This is a reference to the well-known story of the conversion of the islanders. The laird, a man ‘much respected,’ an elder of the kirk, reproved by the General Assembly for allowing his people to remain in popery, retrieved his character by driving his tenants from the Catholic chapel to the Protestant church with the vigorous application of a gold-headed cane, called by the Highlanders a yellow stick: from this the Presbyterian religion became known in the islands as Creidimh a bhata bhui, the creed of the yellow stick. Cf. Bellesheim’s Hist. Cath. Church Scot. (iv. 188).

[272] Called the Parish of the Small Isles.

[273] Modernly, Loch Hourn = Hell Loch.

[274] Scotus and Barisdale were brothers, both being uncles of the chief of Glengarry. The elder, Angus Macdonell of Scotus, was an old man in ’45, and died the following year. He remained at home, but his eldest son Donald went out with Glengarry. Donald fell wounded at Culloden, and was supposed to have died on the field. The clan historians, however, state that evidence has been found in the Stuart Papers at Windsor that certain marauders landed from a ship at night, carried off a number of wounded, among them Donald of Scotus, who after various adventures was captured by Turkish pirates, and held in bondage ever afterwards. (History of Clan Donald, iii. 324.) Two of Scotus’s younger sons John and Allan were captains in Glengarry’s regiment. Donald’s eldest son Ranald fought on the Government side in ’45 in Loudoun’s regiment. Ranald’s grandson succeeded in 1868 as 18th hereditary chief of Glengarry.

For Macdonell of Barisdale, see post, p. 96.

[275] The Morar family was really not a cadet, but the senior branch of the Clanranald family, descended from the eldest son of Dougall, 6th Clanranald, who was deposed by the clan for cruelty and oppression, and his children excluded for ever from the chiefship, which was conferred on his uncle. Dougall was assassinated in 1520; his family, on whom the lands of Morar were conferred, were known as the ‘MacDhughail Mhorair.’ In 1745 the laird of Morar was Allan, whose mother was a Macdonald of Sleat. He must have been an elderly man, as his wife was an aunt of Lochiel’s, the youngest daughter of Sir Ewan Cameron by his third wife, daughter of the Quaker David Barclay of Urie. Morar was one of the first to meet the Prince on his reaching Lochnanuagh in July ’45. He served as lieut-colonel of the Clanranald regiment. Prince Charles in his wanderings came to him for hospitality in July ’46, and Morar could only give him a cave to sleep in as his house had been burned down. His reception of the Prince, prompted it is said by young Clanranald, was very cold, and he was the object of fierce invective by the chief of Mackinnon, and of sorrowful reproach by Charles himself. (L. in M., iii. 187.) According to the clan historians, Morar had the reputation of being ‘an unmanly, drunken creature all his life.’ (Hist. Cl. Donald, iii. 256.)

Mr. Andrew Lang says that Morar was the author of the Journal and Memorial of P—— C—— Expedition into Scotland (printed in the Lockhart Papers), which is a principal source of knowledge of the early days of the adventure. Mr. Lang did not remember his authority, but was certain of its authenticity. (I had been assured in Moidart that the Journal was by young Ranald of Kinloch-Moidart, but without proof.) Allan of Morar died in 1756. His eldest son, John, was ‘out,’ but in what capacity he served I have failed to trace. Morar’s step-brother, John of Guidale, was a captain in the Clanranald regiment.

Another step-brother was Hugh Macdonald, who had been educated for the Church in France. He was reported to Rome as a ‘scion of one of the noblest branches of the Macdonalds.... He himself is distinguished even more for his zeal and piety than for his honourable birth, and is also a man of singular prudence and modesty.’ (Bellesheim, iv. 386.) He was consecrated Bishop of Diana in partibus in 1731, and appointed vicar-apostolic of the Highlands. The Bishop visited the Prince on board ship on his first arrival, and implored him to return. When the Standard was raised in Glenfinnan it was blessed by Bishop Hugh. What part he took during the campaign I do not know, but after the debacle, he accompanied Lord Lovat in his hiding in Morar. When the fugitives were pounced upon by Ferguson’s party (see post, pp. 90, 244) Lovat was captured, but the Bishop escaped and went to France, in September, along with Prince Charles. He returned to Scotland in 1749, when he had an interview with Bishop Forbes, who veils his identity by calling him ‘Mr. Hugh.’ (L. in M., iii. 50.) He was betrayed in July 1755, and arrested, released on bail, and obliged to reside at Duns until the following February, when he was sentenced by the High Court to perpetual banishment. (Scots. Mag., xvii. 358, xviii. 100.) By connivance of the authorities, the sentence was not enforced, and he remained in Scotland until his death, which occurred in Glengarry in 1773.

The Kinlochmoidart family descends from the 9th Clanranald (d. 1593). The laird in 1745 was Donald Macdonald; his mother was Margaret Cameron, the only sister of Lochiel of the ’45; his wife was a daughter of Stewart of Appin. Donald, as a boy, had fought at Sheriffmuir. His brother Æneas, a banker in Paris, came over from France with Prince Charles. On arrival in Scotland Æneas was sent to summon the laird. Kinlochmoidart, who was given a commission as colonel and made aide-de-camp to the Prince, was at once despatched to summon his uncle Lochiel, and other Jacobite leaders. Prince Charles lived in his house from August 11th to 18th. When a captive the following year, Kinlochmoidart was asked what made him embark in the adventure, ‘Lord, man’ he replied, ‘what could I do when the young lad came to my house.’ (Carlisle in 1745, p. 266.) It is interesting from the point of view of Highland hospitality to compare this reply with the advice given to Prince Charles by Clanranald’s brother, Boisdale, who had an interview with the Prince at Eriska on his first arrival, but refused to rise. When he found it impossible to dissuade the Prince from his enterprise he ‘insisted that he ought to land on the estate of Macdonald of Sleat or in that of Macleod, for if he trusted himself to them in the beginning they would certainly join him which otherwise they would not do. The Prince would not follow this counsel, being influenced by others.’ (Bishop Geddes’s MS.) Kinlochmoidart was made prisoner at Lesmahagow in Lanarkshire, in November ’45, while returning to the army from an unsuccessful mission to Sir Alexander of Sleat and Macleod. The principal agent in his capture was a divinity student, Thomas Lining, afterwards rewarded with the living of Lesmahagow. The chieftain was tried at Carlisle, and there hanged on 18th October ’46. His head was fixed on the Scots Gate, where it remained for many years. His house was burned down.

Kinlochmoidart’s family was deeply implicated in the Rising. Four of his brothers served in Clanranald’s regiment: John, a doctor of medicine, who was one of Ferguson’s victims in the Furness; he afterwards returned to Moidart; Ranald, whose chivalrous championship of the Prince’s cause, gave the first note of enthusiasm to the adventure (Home, Hist. Reb., p. 39); Allan, who fled to France and perished in the Revolution; James, who was captured at Culloden, but escaped; he was exempted from the general pardon, and is supposed to have gone to America. A fifth brother, Æneas the Paris banker, was captured, tried, and sentenced to death. He escaped from Newgate by throwing snuff in the turnkey’s eyes, but being shod with loose slippers he tripped when flying along Warwick Lane and was retaken. He received a conditional pardon, returned to France, and was killed in the Revolution.

[276] The property was acquired in 1726 by Sir David Murray of Stanhope (Peeblesshire) 2nd bart., the father of John Murray of Broughton. He died in 1729, but the work of developing the lead mines and minerals was carried on by his son, Sir James. In 1745 the proprietor was Sir David Murray, 4th bart., nephew of Sir James, He was ‘out,’ served as aide-de-camp to the Prince, and fought at Falkirk and Culloden. He was captured at Whitby endeavouring to escape; was tried at York; sentenced to death; conditionally pardoned; and died an exile in 1770. The forfeited estate in Ardnamurchan was sold for £33,700.

[277] Of Torcastle, fourth son of Sir Ewan Cameron. He was attainted. After Culloden he remained in Lochaber, and was agent for distributing money to the Camerons. At the end of ’47 he was still free, having evaded all attempts at capture (Albemarle Papers); of his subsequent career I have no knowledge.

[278] Sir Hector Maclean of Duart (Mull), 5th bart., who was major of Lord John Drummond’s French regiment of Royal Scots, had been sent from France to Edinburgh in May, and was made prisoner there in June, and removed to London. He was tried for his life, but on proving that he was born in Calais he was treated as a prisoner of war. Charles Maclean of Drimnin (Morvern) joined the Prince after the battle of Falkirk; at Culloden, where Drimnin was killed, his Macleans were formed into a regiment with the Maclachlans, commanded by the chief of Maclachlan. Allan Maclean of Brolas, who succeeded Sir Hector in 1750, as 6th bart., joined the Government side. (Scots Mag., viii. 141.)

[279] Lachlan MacLachlan; was commissary general in the Jacobite army; killed at Culloden.

[280] For the Maclean and Maclachlan gentlemen, see Appendix.

[281] Rev. John Maclachlan of Kilchoan, ‘chaplain general of the clans,’ friend and correspondent of Bishop Forbes. Writing to the Bishop in 1748, he says, ‘I live for the most part now like a hermite, because all my late charge almost were kill’d in battle, scatter’d abroad or are cow’d at home. (L. in M., ii. 210.)

[282] Dugald Stewart, 8th chief of Appin and last of the direct male line. Although a Jacobite, and created a peer, as Lord Appin, by James, in 1743, he did not join Prince Charles. His clan, one of the first to rise, was led out by his kinsman Charles Stewart, 5th of Ardshiel. Dugald Stewart sold Appin in 1765, and died 1769.

[283] Alexander Macdonald of Glencoe was attainted; he surrendered some time after Culloden; he was in prison as late as 1750; date of release or of death not ascertained. Two brothers, James and Donald, went out with him in ’45.

[284] Lochiel’s brother, Alexander Cameron, third son of John of Lochiel, joined the Church of Rome, and became a Jesuit. I have failed to trace what part he took during the campaign; but in July 1746 he was arrested at Morar and put on board the Furness, the ship of the notorious Captain Ferguson. Father Cameron was carried to the Thames; he suffered great hardships, and died at Gravesend on board ship. (Albemarle Papers, p. 408; L. in M., i. 312.)

[285] The last clan battle of importance, known as the Battle of Mulroy, fought in Glenroy, August 1688. The Mackintoshes, who had obtained charters of Keppoch’s country, were ever at feud with Keppoch, who legally owned none of the land his clan occupied. It is said that on this occasion Macdonell of Keppoch (‘Coll of the Cows’) treated his prisoner Mackintosh so kindly that the latter in gratitude offered him a charter of the lands in dispute. Keppoch declined, saying, that he would never consent to hold by sheepskin what he had won by the sword. (Hist. of Clan Donald, ii. 645.) Murray of Broughton, however, states that as the result of this battle Mackintosh granted Keppoch an advantageous lease, which was still running in 1745. (Memorials, p. 443.)

[286] In 1745 the chief of Keppoch, Alexander (son of Coll), was a Protestant. When his clan joined the Prince he refused to allow a favourite priest to accompany it, and in consequence, a number of his people deserted when at Aberchalder. Keppoch had been created a Jacobite baronet in 1743. His death at Culloden has been the theme of much romance. For some late light on the subject, see Mr. Andrew Lang’s Hist. of Scot., iv. 527.

[287] The Grants of Glenmoriston joined the Glengarry regiment.

[288] Not the eldest son, but the third son, Allan Grant of Innerwick. He was taken prisoner by the Jacobites at the bloodless battle of Dornoch. Lord John Murray’s regiment is the Highland Regiment (Black Watch).

[289] See post, p. 281 et seq.

[290] Contrary to what I find is a general impression, the religion of Lord Lovat and his family, as well as his clan, was Protestant. It is true that in his days of outlawry and exile in France, about 1703, Lovat feigned conversion to Romanism, yet from his return to Scotland in ’15, until his capture in ’46, he conformed to the Presbyterian establishment; his bosom friend and crony was the gloomy and dissolute fanatic, James Erskine, Lord Grange. When in hiding after Culloden, along with Bishop Hugh Macdonald, in Loch Morar (see ante, p. 82) Lovat informed the Bishop that he had long been a Catholic in his heart, and wished to be received into the Church. He was preparing to make his confession, but before the rite could be accomplished, the fugitives were dispersed by a party of Campbells and seamen from Ferguson’s ship, and Lord Lovat surrendered a few days later. Though he desired the services of the chaplain of the Sardinian embassy while a prisoner in the Tower, where on one occasion he pronounced himself a Jansenist, and although he declared ‘Je meurs un fils indigne de l’Église Romaine,’ there is no evidence, which I know of, that he ever formally joined that communion.

[291] See post, p. 99.

[292] Robert Bruce, ordained minister at Edinburgh 1587; Moderator of the Kirk 1588 and 1592, was the son of Bruce of Airth, Stirlingshire, a rude and powerful baron of a family collateral with the royal Bruces. At first Bruce was in high favour with James VI., who placed him on the council of regency when he went to Denmark to be married, 1589, and appointed him to officiate at the coronation of Queen Anne the following year. Subsequently he thwarted the king in his ecclesiastical policy as well as in refusing to acknowledge the guilt of the Earl of Gowrie, who had been his pupil. James had him deposed from his parish, and banished from Edinburgh, 1600. Part of his exile was passed at Inverness (1605-9, and again 1620-24), where he preached to crowded congregations every Sunday. He died at Kinnaird, 1631.

[293] See post, p. 104.

[294] The valley of the Findhorn river, Inverness, Nairn, and Moray shires.

[295] See post, pp. 100, 410.

[296] See post, p. 269 et seq.

[297] Now called Strathavon.

[298] Duncan Forbes of Culloden; b. 1685; M.P. Inverness-shire 1722; Lord Advocate 1725; Lord President of the Court of Session 1737; d. 1747.

[299] George (Mackenzie), 3rd earl; b. about 1702; known as the Master of Macleod until his grandfather’s death, 1714; as Lord Tarbat until his father’s death, 1731, when he succeeded to the earldom. His father, although a friend and cousin of Lord Mar, had not gone out in 1715. The Earl married, 1724, Isabella, daughter of Sir Wm. Gordon of Invergordon, head of a family ‘noted for their zeal for the Protestant succession.’ He was captured at Dunrobin 1746; condemned to death by the House of Lords; released with a conditional pardon 1749; d. at London 1766.

[300] John (Mackenzie), Lord Macleod, eldest son of 3rd Earl of Cromartie; b. 1727. Captured along with his father; pled guilty; received a conditional pardon 1748; went abroad 1749; entered the Swedish service when the Old Chevalier, at the request of Lord George Murray, sent him the necessary funds for his military outfit; became colonel, aide-de-camp to the King of Sweden, and Count Cromartie; returned to England 1777; raised a regiment for King George, first known as Macleod’s Highlanders, the 73rd, subsequently the 71st, and to-day the Highland Light Infantry; M.P. for Ross-shire 1780; family estates restored to him 1784; m. 1786, Margery, d. of Lord Forbes; d. s.p. 1789.

[301] There were three Macdonells all bearing the designation of Barisdale in the ’Forty-five, who are often confused, and who for distinction’s sake may be termed here, Old Barisdale, Young Barisdale, and Youngest Barisdale.

Old Barisdale was Archibald Macdonell, an uncle of Glengarry and a brother of Scotus. He paid his respects to Prince Charles at Glenfinnan, but took no active part in the Rising, probably being too old to go out. In May 1746, however, his house was burned down by Cumberland’s order, and he was carried prisoner on board a ship of war, but was soon released. He died in 1752.

Young Barisdale was Archibald’s eldest son, Coll Macdonell, who is a prominent figure in the rising. He was born in 1698. A man of commanding talent, he filled the rôle of Highland cateran to perfection, and raised a following absolutely devoted to him. He became captain of the watch and guardian of the marches for western Inverness-shire, a vocation (similar to that of his great prototype, Rob Roy) which he exercised with rigour and occasional cruelty. He was able to purchase several wadsets, which gave him territorial importance in the western Highlands. He further strengthened his influence in Ross-shire by his marriages, his first wife being a daughter of George Mackenzie of Balmuchie, and his second wife a sister of Alexander Mackenzie, then laird of Fairburn. He joined Prince Charles at Aberchalder on 27th August at the head of Glengarry’s Knoydart men, fought at Prestonpans, and when the Prince went to England he and Angus Macdonell, Glengarry’s second son, were sent back to the Highlands to raise more men. Barisdale greatly disliked his first cousin Lochgarry, who commanded the Glengarry battalion, so he managed to raise a regiment of his own. (Murray’s Mem., pp. 280, 441.) He fought at Falkirk, but was not at Culloden, being absent on service in Ross-shire. In June he was captured and taken prisoner along with his son to Fort Augustus, and there he received a ten days’ protection on condition of giving certain information to Government. For this he was seized by the Jacobites, carried prisoner to France, and confined at St. Malo and Saumur for two years and four months; was not attainted in 1746, but was excluded from the Act of Indemnity in 1747. He returned to Scotland in February 1749, but was again arrested by Government, taken to Edinburgh Castle, and kept a close prisoner without trial until his death, 1st June 1750. A friendly account of this remarkable man will be found in the History of Clan Donald, iii. 337; and an unfriendly one in Mr. Lang’s Companions of Pickle, p. 97.

Youngest Barisdale was Coll’s eldest son, Archibald, who was not quite twenty years old at the beginning of the adventure. He acted as major of the Glengarry regiment. His name was included in the list of attainders in 1746, apparently in mistake for his father. He was made prisoner along with his father in 1746, first by Government and afterwards by the Jacobites; he was carried to France, where he was held in durance for a year. He returned to Scotland, and in 1749 was again imprisoned by Government along with his father, but was immediately released. Once more he was arrested in 1753, at the time when Dr. Archibald Cameron was taken and executed. Barisdale was tried and sentenced to death in March 1754, but reprieved. He was kept a prisoner until 1762, when he was finally released. At his own request he at once took the oath of fealty to Government, and accepted a commission in the 105th Regiment (the Queen’s Own Royal Highlanders), which was disbanded the following year. He died at Barisdale in 1787.

[302] Captain in Cromartie’s regiment; was captured at Dunrobin; tried at Southwark in 1746, pleaded guilty and was condemned to death; he was not executed; I am ignorant of his subsequent career.

[303] Simon Fraser, b. 1726: after Culloden gave himself up to Government; attainted 1746, pardoned 1750; joined the Scottish bar 1752; acted as Advocate-Depute in the Appin murder trial, an episode immortalised in R. L. Stevenson’s Catriona; raised a Highland regiment for the Government 1757, and served with it under Wolfe in Canada (regiment disbanded 1763); M.P. Inverness 1761; family estates restored to him 1774; raised a second regiment of two battalions 1775, for the American War, which he did not accompany (regiment disbanded 1783); died a lieut.-general 1782. Sir Walter Scott calls the Master of Lovat the good son of a bad father. A very different account is given by Mrs. Grant of Laggan—‘he differed from his father only as a chain’d-up fox does from one at liberty.’ (See Wariston’s Diary, etc., p. 275, Scot. Hist. Soc., vol. xxvi.)

[304] Charles Fraser the younger, b. 1725, nephew and heir-presumptive of William Fraser of Inverallochy, Aberdeenshire, the senior cadet of Lovat’s clan.

His father, Charles Fraser of Castle Fraser, younger brother of the laird of Inverallochy, had inherited the property of Muchall or Castle Fraser (Kemnay, Aberdeenshire), on the death of his step-grandfather Charles, 4th and last Lord Fraser, who lost his life near Banff by falling over a precipice while in hiding to avoid capture after the ’15. In 1723 the elder Charles Fraser was created ‘Lord Fraser of Mushall’ by the Chevalier in recognition of his services, and particularly those of his father, ‘who died bravely asserting our cause, and in consideration of the earnest desire of the late Lord Fraser, when we were last in Scotland, to resign his titles of honour in favour of the said Charles’ father.’ I am not aware of what these special services were, nor why the elder brother William was passed over both for the Castle Fraser inheritance and the Jacobite peerage. Charles Fraser eventually succeeded to Inverallochy in 1749 on the death of his brother William. He was probably too old to go out in 1745, and his son went out as Lovat’s lieut.-colonel, ‘in accordance with the ancient highland practice and the policy of Lord Lovat as being nearest in blood to the chiefship.’ Young Inverallochy was killed at Culloden, and the story of his death is very painful. It is first told in a general way in The Lyon (ii. 305; iii. 56), and afterwards with more detail by Sir Henry Seton Steuart of Allanton in the Antijacobin Review of 1802 (p. 125) as follows:—

‘When the celebrated General Wolfe (at this period a lieut.-colonel in the army) was riding over the field of battle with the D—— of C-m-b-l-d, they observed a Highlander, who, though severely wounded, was yet able to sit up, and, leaning on his arm, seemed to smile defiance of them.—“Wolfe,” said the D——, “shoot me that Highland scoundrel, who thus dares to look on us with such contempt and insolence!”—“My commission,” replied the manly officer, “is at your R——l H——s’s disposal, but I never can consent to become an executioner.” The Highlander, it is probable, was soon knocked on the head by some ruffian less scrupulous than the future conqueror of Quebec. But it was remarked by those who heard the story, that Colonel Wolfe, from that day, visibly declined in the favour and confidence of the commander-in-chief. We believe that some officers are still alive who are not unacquainted with this anecdote.’

Mr. Beckles Willson, Wolfe’s latest biographer, accepts the story as regards Wolfe but doubts its applicability to Cumberland. Wolfe, it must be remembered, was on Hawley’s staff, not Cumberland’s. These generals could easily have been mistaken for each other. The action is very like Hawley, who was hated by the soldiers, who nicknamed him the Hangman, and who held his military talents in contempt, a feeling shared by Wolfe. Moreover, it was a Jacobite cult to vilify the Duke, and to impute all cruelties to him personally. Seton Steuart was not an entirely unprejudiced writer; he had been brought up in an atmosphere of uncompromising Jacobitism. He was a cousin of Sir James Steuart of Goodtrees and of Provost Stewart of Edinburgh, both of whom suffered; while his wife was grand-daughter of Charles Smith of Boulogne, the Jacobite agent frequently mentioned in Murray’s Papers. (See ante, p. 11.)

[305] James Fraser, 9th of Foyers (Lochness), descended from the 3rd Lord Lovat, was one of the most ruthless and devoted henchmen of Lovat, who made him bailie of Stratherrick. He received from Prince Charles a special commission, dated 23rd September 1745, to seize President Duncan Forbes and carry him prisoner to Edinburgh, an enterprise which failed. His name was excluded from the act of indemnity, but he was afterwards pardoned and his estates restored. It was to his house that John Murray of Broughton was carried the day before Culloden.

[306] N.B.—Most of the Chisholms are Papists.

[307] This does not quite accord with the clan history. Roderick, the chief of Chisholm, was then forty-eight years old. What part he took in the Rising is not on record, but he was specially excluded from the act of indemnity. His eldest son Alexander seems to have stayed at home; his second and third sons were officers in the Government army, and fought under Cumberland at Culloden; his fourth son, who was a physician in Inverness, afterwards provost, seems to have taken no part; his youngest son, Roderick Og, led out the clan; he ‘headed about eighty of the Chisholms at the battle of Culloden, himself and thirty thereof were killed upon the field.’ (Mackenzie, Hist. of the Chisholms.)

[308] The laird was then Alexander Mackenzie, 6th of Fairburn. According to the Marquis d’Éguilles, French envoy to Prince Charles, Fairburn’s wife was Barbara Gordon, of whom he gives the following account in a despatch to his government: ‘Une fort jolie personne ... celle-cy n’a pas banni son mari; mais malgré luy, elle a vendu ses diamants et sa vaisselle pour lever des hommes. Elle a ramassé cent cinquante des plus braves du païs, qu’elle a joint à ceux de miladi Seaforth, sous la conduite de son beau-frère.’ (Cottin, Un Protégé de Bachaumont, p. 51.) The brother-in-law may be Coll Macdonell of Barisdale, who married her husband’s sister; or it may be Kenneth Mackenzie her husband’s brother who although only a schoolboy was a captain in Barisdale’s regiment. (Lord Rosebery’s List of Persons Concerned in the Rebellion, p. 76.) This lady is not mentioned in the genealogies of Alex. Mackenzie’s Hist. of the Mackenzies, which are, however, manifestly incomplete.

[309] Alexander Macgillivray of Dunmaglas, the lieut.-colonel of Lady Mackintosh’s regiment, and Gillise Macbain, Dalmagarrie, the major, were both killed at Culloden.

[310] N.B.—The Laird of McIntosh got a Company in the Highland Regiment. He raised a full company and they all deserted except 8 or 9.

[311] Anne, daughter of James Farquharson, 9th of Invercauld, and Margaret Murray, daughter of Lord James Murray, an uncle of Lord George Murray; b. 1723; d. 1787; m. Æneas Mackintosh 22nd of Mackintosh, who, though a Jacobite peer, refused to join Prince Charles, preferring to serve that monarch who was able to pay him ‘half-a-guinea the day and half-a-guinea the morn.’ (Notes to Waverley, ch. xix.) The chief raised a company for King George with the result noted above, while his lady raised the clan for Prince Charles. Of this lady we get the following enthusiastic account by the Marquis d’Éguilles:—

‘Elle aimoit éperdûment son mari qu’elle espéra longtems de gagner au Prince; mais, ayant appris qu’il s’étoit enfin engagé, avec le Président, à servir la maison d’Hanovre, elle ne voulut plus le voir.

‘Elle ne s’en tint pas là: elle souleva une partie de ses vassaux, à la teste desquels elle mit un très-beau cousin qui, jusques-là, l’avoit aimée inutilement. Mackintosh fut obligé de quitter son lit, sa maison et ses terres. L’intrépide ladi, un pistolet d’une main et de l’argent de l’autre, parcourt le païs, menace, donne, promet, et, en moins de quinze jours, ramasse 600 hommes. Elle en avoit envoyé moitié à Fakirk, qui y arriva la veille de la bataille. Elle avoit retenu l’autre moitié pour se garder de son mari et de Loudoun qui, à Inverness, n’étoient qu’à trois lieues de son château. Le prince logea chez elle, à son passage. Elle s’offrit à luy avec la grâce et la noblesse d’une divinité, car rien n’est si beau que cette femme. Elle luy présenta toute sa petite armée qu’elle avoit rassemblée, et après avoir parlé aux soldats de ce qu’ils devoient à la situation, aux droits et aux vertus de leur Prince, elle jura très-catégoriquement de casser la tête au premier qui s’en tourneroit, après avoir, à ses yeux, brûlé sa maison et chassé sa famille.

‘Au reste, elle a toujours passé, jusques icy, pour être très-modérée, très-sensée. C’est, icy, l’effet de la première éducation. Son père, pris à la bataille de Preston en 1715, avoit resté longtems prisonnier, et couru risque de la vie. Elle n’a pas vingt-deux ans. C’est elle qui découvrit le projet qu’avoit fait Macleod d’enlever le Prince, et, en vérité, c’est elle seule qui l’a fait échouer.’ (Cottin, p. 49.)

The last sentence refers to the incident known as ‘the Rout of Moy’ (post, p. 108), when Lady Mackintosh’s thoughtful vigilance saved her Prince from imminent risk of capture. A month later (March 20th) her husband was taken prisoner at Dornoch by the Jacobites. Prince Charles sent the chief to his wife at Moy, saying that ‘he could not be in better security or more honourably treated.’ This may have been the occasion of the story told by Bishop Mackintosh to Chambers: the lady was jocularly known in the army as ‘Colonel Anne’; when her husband was ushered into her presence she greeted him laconically with, ‘Your servant, captain,’ to which he replied with equal brevity, ‘Your servant, colonel!’ After Culloden Lady Mackintosh was arrested at Moy and taken to Inverness; she was released after six weeks’ confinement. In spite of her martial reputation, and her undaunted resolution, there was nothing masculine about her appearance; she was a slender, rather delicate-looking girl: she took no part in the fighting but remained at home during the campaign. In after years when in London, family tradition says that she became a favourite in certain royal circles, and there on one occasion she met the Duke of Cumberland, and with him she exchanged some piquant raillery (see narratives in A. M. Shaw’s Mackintoshes and Clan Chattan, p. 464 seq.).

[312] Culcairn, now called Kincraig, in Rosskeen parish. George Munro, b. 1685, brother of Sir Robert Munro of Foulis (see post, p. 198). Culcairn was shot in Knoydart in August 1746 while wasting the country and carrying off cattle in company with Captain Grant of Knockando, of Loudoun’s Regiment. It is said he was shot by accident instead of Grant, by the father of one Alexander Cameron, whom Grant had shot a short time previously. (L. in M., i. 91, 312.)

[313] Cf. ante, p. 46 n.

[314] Kenneth (Mackenzie), eldest son of William, 5th Earl of Seaforth, attainted 1716, d. 1740; but for the attainder he would have been 6th earl. He was styled Lord Fortrose, which was the second Jacobite title of his grandfather, created Marquis of Seaforth by James VII. after his abdication. He was born about 1718; M.P. for Inverness 1741-47; and for Ross-shire from 1747 until his death, 1761. Lord Fortrose (who was generally, though not officially, called Seaforth in Scotland) adhered to Government in the ’45. Though his support was of the paltriest description, his defection gave great pain to Prince Charles. Fortrose’s wife was Lady Mary Stewart, daughter of the 6th Earl of Galloway. This lady raised men for Prince Charles, with the result narrated in these pages. Of her the French envoy informs his Government: ‘On assure que son zèle égale celuy des deux autres [Lady Mackintosh and Mrs. Mackenzie of Fairburn], quoy qu’elle paroisse moins vive et moins courageuse.’ It was their son who raised the 1st Battalion Seaforth Highlanders (72nd), for which service he was created Earl of Seaforth in the Peerage of Ireland.

[315] The Rosses of Ross-shire are rather mixed up here. At this time there were two distinct races of Ross in the county, which should not be confounded. The Celtic family of Ross, of whom the ancient head was the Earl of Ross, was originally known as the clan Ghille-andrais (servants of St. Andrew). The earldom passed by marriage of heiresses in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, first to the Leslies and afterwards to the Macdonalds, Lords of the Isles. The chiefship of the clan, however, went to the heir male, Ross of Balnagowan. In the year 1711, David Ross, the last of the Celtic family of Balnagowan, died. The natural heir was Ross of Pitcalnie, his next of kin. Pitcalnie was a Roman Catholic or Episcopalian, anyhow he was not a Presbyterian, and Balnagowan was influenced by his wife, Lady Anne (daughter of the 4th Earl of Moray), a bigoted Presbyterian, to disinherit the natural heir and bequeath the property to General the Hon. Charles Ross, a younger son of George, 11th Lord Ross of Halkhead, in Ayrshire. (Fraser-Mackintosh, Antiq. Notes, p. 66.) The family which thus became Ross of Balnagowan had no connection with the Celtic clan of the same name, but was descended from a Norman family named de Ros. In 1745 Balnagowan with its great territorial influence had come to George, 13th Lord Ross, and the Master of Ross his eldest son (afterwards 14th and last Lord Ross) received the command of one of the independent companies raised in 1745. He was garrisoning Inverness Castle (then called Fort George) when it was captured by the Jacobites, 20th Feb. ’46; he remained a prisoner on parole until the end of the campaign. He was one of the very few officers who did not break his parole. (Cf. post, pp. 207, 364.)

The Rosses of Inverchasley and Pitcalnie, who belonged to the ancient Celtic clan Ghille-andrais, sided with the Government, but ‘young Pitcalnie,’ Malcolm Ross, who was a grand-nephew of President Duncan Forbes, went over to the Jacobites. He had served as ensign in Loudoun’s regiment at Prestonpans, where he was taken prisoner by the Jacobites and released on parole. He seems to have been the only Government officer who deserted to the Jacobites. His name was included in the list of attainders.

[316] Macleod of Geanies was representative of the Macleods of Assynt (see ante, p. 74). John, a brother of Neil Macleod (tried for the betrayal of Montrose), left Assynt and settled in Easter Ross where his son Donald, an officer in the Scots Brigade in Holland, purchased the estate of Geanies. Donald’s son Hugh was laird in 1745; his wife was a niece of President Duncan Forbes of Culloden.

[317] See post, p. 143 et seq.

[318] This refers to the fiasco known as the ‘Rout of Moy’ (16th Feb. ’46), when by a stratagem, a blacksmith and a few other retainers of Lady Mackintosh, made Loudoun believe that the whole Jacobite army was upon him; he fled back to Inverness, whence he retreated across the Kessock Ferry to Ross-shire. The principal, perhaps the only, victim of the expedition, was Donald Ban MacCrimmon, Macleod’s famous piper, who was shot by the blacksmith. Cf. post, p. 145. (For details, see Home, Hist. Reb., ch. ix.; L. in M., 149, etc.)

[319] George Grant of Culbin, brother of Sir James Grant of Grant, major in the Highland Regiment (Black Watch). He surrendered Inverness Castle (then called Fort George) to Prince Charles, 20th February, for which he was subsequently tried by court-martial, and dismissed the service.

[320] See ante, p. 75.

[321] Now called Strathavon (pronounced Stratha’an), Banffshire. It is generally called Strathdawn or Strathdown in documents of this date; perhaps from the local pronunciation, plus the archaic ‘d’ which occasionally appears in place-names, e.g. Strathdearn for the valley of the Earn or Findhorn. There was an ancient church of Dounan in the valley perhaps from the same root.

[322] George Forbes of Skeleter; m. Glenbucket’s daughter Christiana Gordon. He escaped to France after Culloden, joined Lord Ogilvie’s Scots regiment in the French service: he never returned.

[323] William (Duff) of Braco and Dipple; b. 1697; d. 1763; M.P. Banffshire 1727-34; created Baron Braco of Kilbride 1735; and in 1759 Viscount Macduff and Earl Fife—all these titles being in the peerage of Ireland; m. (1) Janet, d. of 4th Earl of Findlater; and (2) Jean, d. of Sir James Grant of Grant. He, his father, and his grandfather made enormous purchases of land in Aberdeen, Banff, and Moray shires, particularly on the forfeitures after Mar’s rising in 1715. He joined Cumberland in 1746.

[324] Among the Jacobite prisoners who pled guilty is ‘Robert Forbes, printer, son to New.’ (Scots Mag., viii. p. 438.) At his trial it is stated that he was a farmer. His home was at Corse in the parish of Coull, Deeside. He was captain in one of Lord Lewis Gordon’s battalions, and was one of the officers left at Carlisle and captured there. He was sentenced to death but was not executed; of his subsequent career I have no knowledge.

[325] Cope reached Aberdeen 11th Sept., and left it by sea 15th Sept. 1745.

[326] Johnshaven, a fishing port on the Kincardine coast, about twenty-five miles south of Aberdeen; Torry and Foothy (Footdee), fishing villages near the mouth of the Dee, Aberdeen.

[327] James Moir of Stonywood, an estate on Donside three miles above Aberdeen. He was very active in the Jacobite cause, and while the Prince was in England raised a battalion, of which Lord Lewis Gordon was titular colonel. After Culloden he escaped to Sweden, where he resided until 1762, when he was permitted to return to Stonywood. He died in 1782. His correspondence in 1745-46 is printed in the Spalding Club Misc., vol. i.

[328] York Street cadys = messenger-porters of a low street in Aberdeen.

[329] Francis Farquharson of Monaltrie, near Ballater on the Dee, the ‘Baron ban’ of the ’45, raised a regiment from Deeside and Braemar. He was made prisoner at Culloden, tried at London, and condemned to death, but reprieved. He was kept prisoner in England, latterly with considerable liberty at Berkhampstead, Herts. He was liberated in 1766, and returned to Monaltrie, where he devoted the rest of his life to improving the social and material condition of his country. He introduced into Aberdeenshire improved methods of farming, which he had carefully studied while in exile in England. His name is still cherished in the county as the man who did much to make Aberdeen the great farming county it became. He died in 1791.

[330] The Duke of Perth had twice to flee from Drummond Castle; first in March 1744, immediately after the failure of the projected French invasion. A party of 36 dragoons and 150 foot was sent from Stirling under Lieut.-Col. Whitney (afterwards killed at Falkirk) to surround the castle, but the Duke escaped (Chron. Atholl and Tullib., ii. 473). The second time was in July 1745, referred to post, p. 271, n. 2. This occasion was a treacherous attempt of his neighbour, Sir Patrick Murray of Ochtertyre, and Campbell of Inverawe, both officers of the Highland regiment (Black Watch), to capture him while dining at Drummond Castle. The story is detailed in The Lyon, i. 290.

[331] Now spelt Balmoral, the King’s home on Deeside. The laird was badly wounded at Falkirk and took no further part in the campaign.

[332] Hamilton’s home was Sanstoun, now called Huntly Lodge, beside old Huntly Castle. He was left governor of Carlisle when the Jacobite army left it on their way south (21st Nov.), and on their return in December Hamilton was made governor of the Castle, while Towneley, an Englishman, was left governor of the town. Carlisle surrendered to Cumberland 30th December. Both Towneley and Hamilton were hanged on Kennington Common. (See also post, p. 173.)

[333] His home was Dunbennan, close to Huntly; the whole ‘toun’ was burnt down in 1746.

[334] James Petrie, advocate in Aberdeen; joined the local bar 1743; appointed sheriff-depute 8th May 1744. The last deed ascertained to have been lodged before him is dated 23rd September 1745. Petrie went into hiding after the ’45. As he was not specially excluded from the Act of Indemnity of 1747, he was able to resume practice at the Aberdeen bar by taking the oath of allegiance, which he did in April 1748. (Littlejohn, Rec. Sheriff-Court of Aberdeen, iii. 116.)

[335] Alexander, 4th Lord Forbes of Pitsligo; b. 1678; suc. 1691; attainted 1746; hid in his own country of Buchan, and was never captured; d. 1762.

[336] Boyne, a district in the north of Banffshire. The Enzie, north-western Banffshire, with part of Morayshire between the Spey and the Buckie Burn.

[337] William Moir of Lonmay, Lady Erroll’s factor, was Stonywood’s brother. He acted as deputy-governor of Aberdeen during the Jacobite occupation.

[338] Mary (Hay), Countess of Erroll in her own right, the last of the Hays of Erroll. She married Alexander Falconer, but left no issue. On her death in 1758, she was succeeded in the Errol title by James (Boyd), Lord Boyd (son of the Earl of Kilmarnock, executed in 1746), whose mother was the daughter and sole heiress of Lady Erroll’s sister Margaret, wife of the attainted Earl of Linlithgow and Callander. He assumed the name of Hay.

[339] George (Gordon), 3rd earl; b. 1722; suc. his father 30th March 1745; d. 1801. His mother was Lady Anna Murray (d. 1725), a sister of Lord George Murray; his stepmother, Lady Anne Gordon, sister of Lord Lewis Gordon. The Duchess of Gordon was his sister.

[340] James (Ogilvy), 5th earl; b. 1689; suc. 1730; d. 1764. He had been imprisoned in 1715, on the outbreak of Mar’s rising.

[341] John (Keith), 3rd earl; b. 1699; suc. 1718; d. 1772. His wife was a d. of Erskine of Grange, Lord Mar’s brother. His father, 2nd earl, was out in ’15.

[342] James (Forbes), 16th lord; b. 1689; suc. 1734; d. 1761. His first wife was sister of Lord Pitsligo; his second wife, a sister of Sir Wm. Gordon of Park, both ardent Jacobite leaders.

[343] Alexander (Fraser), 12th lord; b. c. 1684; suc. 1715; d. 1748. ‘He was a supporter of the Hanoverian Government, but took no active part in public affairs.’ (Scots Peerage, vii. 446.)

[344] See ante, p. 113, n. 3.

[345] Buchan, northern Aberdeenshire and part of eastern Banffshire; Formartine, the district south of Buchan, between the sea and the Don.

[346] The laird of Leys was then Sir Alexander Burnett, 4th bart.; d. 1758.

[347] Rev. George Law, of Aberdeen; acted as chaplain to Stonywood’s regiment; made prisoner at Culloden; tried at Southwark in December, and acquitted. I am not aware of any active part taken by Seaton. It is mentioned that the French officers were made burghers of Aberdeen in December, and that Seaton received a similar honour; also that in February his lodging was ransacked and ‘some papers, mistically written for five or six years back, found.’ (Spald. Club. Misc., i. 360 and 385.)

[348] Fourth son of Alexander, 2nd Duke of Gordon; b. c. 1724; lieutenant in the Navy, but joined Prince Charles at Edinburgh. Was appointed by him Lord-Lieut. of Banff and Aberdeen shires. Escaped after Culloden, and died at Montreuil, 1754.

[349] At Fountainhall, East Lothian, twelve miles from Edinburgh. The Duchess was Henrietta Mordaunt, daughter of the celebrated Earl of Peterborough. On her husband’s death in 1728, she brought up her numerous children as Protestants, though her husband’s family was hereditarily Catholic. For this she received, in 1735, a pension of £1000 a year, which it is said she forfeited for entertaining Prince Charles to breakfast on the roadside as he passed her gates. Her son, the 3rd duke, took no active part in the ’45, but his influence was against his brother and the Jacobites. He seems to have remained in Gordon Castle down to March, but he left it on the 8th, ‘in the most secret manner he could,’ probably to avoid meeting Prince Charles, who visited the castle a few days later. The Duke then joined Cumberland in Aberdeen. (S.M., viii. 138.)

[350] William Baird (b. 1701; d. 1777) of Auchmeddan, in the Aberdeenshire parish of Aberdour, on the borders of Banff, the last of an ancient family, of which the baroneted families of New Byth and Saughton are cadets. His wife was a sister of the 1st Earl Fife, then Lord Braco. He was author of a genealogical history of the Bairds (reprinted, London, 1870) and another of the Duffs, which was privately printed in 1869.

[351] Charles Gordon of Blelack, near Aboyne, Deeside.

[352] A district of Aberdeenshire, south of Strathbogie and south-west of Formartine, comprising the valleys of the Urie and the Gadie.

[353] Lord John Drummond landed a force of about 800 men, composed of his own French regiments of Royal Scots and a piquet of fifty men from each of the six Irish regiments in the French service. They landed on 22nd November at Montrose, Stonehaven, and Peterhead. Two of Drummond’s transports were captured by English men-of-war; among the prisoners so taken was Alexander Macdonell, ‘Young Glengarry,’ Mr. Lang’s Pickle the Spy.

[354] These were Lord John Drummond, brother of the titular Duke of Perth, and Lord Lewis Drummond. The latter (1709-92), the lieut.-colonel of Lord John Drummond’s French Royal Scots, was the second son of John (Drummond), 2nd (but attainted) Earl of Melfort, whose father had been created Duke of Melfort by James VII. while in exile in 1692, and Duke of Melfort in the French peerage by Louis XIV. in 1701. Lord Lewis lost a leg at Culloden. He died in Paris, 1792.

[355] These manifestoes are printed post, pp. 292, 293.

John Haliburton was an officer in the French service; he arrived at Inverness with despatches two days before the battle of Culloden. (Murray’s Mem., p. 433.) After Culloden he assisted in the distribution of the money (of which Cluny’s treasure was a part) landed by the French ships at Lochnanuagh in May 1746. (Albemarle Papers, p. 338.)

[356] This highland dress for lowland men is detailed by Lord Lewis Gordon to Stonywood as ‘plaid, short cloaths, hose, and shoes.’ (Spald. Club Misc., 408.)

[357] John (Campbell), 4th Earl of Loudoun; b. 1705; suc. 1731; d. 1782. Raised a regiment of Highlanders in 1745 (disbanded 1748). Adjutant-general to Sir John Cope at Prestonpans; sent to Inverness to command the troops in the North, October 1745; commander-in-chief in America 1756, but recalled the same year; general, and colonel 3rd (Scots) Guards 1770.

[358]Order of the Rt. Hon. the Ld. Lewis Gordon, lord-lieutenant of the counties, and governor of the towns of Aberdeen and Bamff.—Whereas I desired and ordered J. Moir of Stonywood, to intimate to all the gentlemen and their doers, within the said counties of Aberdeen and Bamff, to send into the town of Aberdeen, a well-bodied man for each 100l. Scots, their valued rent, sufficiently cloathed, and in consequence of my order he wrote circular letters to all the heritors in the above counties, desiring them to send in a man sufficiently cloathed, &c. for each 100l. Scots of their valued rent; which desire they have not complied with: Therefore I order and command you, to take a sufficient party of my men, and go to all the lands within the above counties, and require from the heritors, factors, or tenants, as you shall think most proper, an able-bodied man for his m—— K—— J——’s service, with sufficient Highland cloaths, plaid and arms, for each 100l. of their valued rent, or the sum of 5l. sterl. money for each of the above men, to be paid to J. M. of Stonywood, or his order of Aberdeen: and in case of refusal of the men or money, you are forthwith to burn all the houses, corn and planting upon the foresaid estates; and to begin with the heritor or factor residing on the lands; and not to leave the said lands until the above execution be done, unless they produce Stonywood’s lines, shewing they have delivered him the men or the money. Given at Aberdeen this 12th day of December, 1745.

Subscrib’d      Lewis Gordon.’

[359] See ante, p. 103.

[360] Of Monymusk, 2nd bart.; b. 1696; d. 1778; M.P. for Aberdeen.

[361] A brother of the laird of Castlehill, Inverness, in whose house Prince Charles stayed in February 1746. He was a captain in Lord John Drummond’s French regiment of Royal Scots. After Culloden he was treated as a prisoner of war. By 1749 he had become lieut.-col. of the regiment. (L. in M., ii. 286.) The laird of Castlehill was Sheriff-depute of Inverness-shire, and was not a Jacobite.

[362] Highland squatters. ‘Humly’ is the ordinary north-country term for hornless cattle. Robert Jamieson in a note to Letter XXII. in the 5th edition of Burt’s Letters from the North of Scotland, published in 1818, says: ‘In the days of our grandfathers the lower class of highlanders were, by their lowland neighbours (in the north-east lowlands at least), denominated humblies, from their wearing no covering on their head but their hair, which at a more early period they probably matted and felted.’

[363] Donald Ban MacCrimmon, of the celebrated race of hereditary pipers to the chiefs of Macleod. This is the only mention I can recall of this pleasant story of his relations with his brother musicians. There is an exceedingly picturesque account (perhaps more picturesque than authentic) of MacCrimmon’s descent from a musician of Cremona, given in the Celtic Review, ii. 76, 1906. Though MacCrimmon escaped death at Inverurie, he was killed in the fiasco at Moy on 16th February. (See ante, p. 108.)

When leaving Dunvegan for the anti-Jacobite campaign of ’45-’46, he had a presentiment that he would never return, and composed the words and music of a celebrated lament, which was translated or paraphrased by Sir Walter Scott:—

Farewell to each cliff on which breakers are foaming,
Farewell each dark glen in which red-deer are roaming,
Farewell, lonely Skye, to lake, mountain, and river,
Macleod may return, but MacCrimmon shall never.
The Banshee’s wild voice sings the death dirge before me,
And the pall of the dead for a mantle hangs o’er me;
But my heart shall not fly, and my nerve shall not quiver,
Though devoted I go—to return again, never!

[364] Sir Alexander Bannerman, 3rd bart., of Elsick, Kincardineshire (the Mearns). His mother was a Macdonald of Sleat. He escaped to France; died in Paris 1747.

[365] This seems to be a mistake. Lord Ogilvie’s regiment marched to the north through Ogilvie’s country from Perth, by Cupar Angus, Cortachy, Clova, Glenmuick, Logie Colston, and Tarland, to Keith. (Spalding Club Misc., i. 332.)

[366] ‘Kelly’s’ probably means John Roy Stewart’s regiment, which was originally intended for the Earl of Kellie.

[367] Now spelt Clatt. Rev. Patrick Reid; ord. 1723; d. 1759.

[368] John Baggot, a Franco-Irishman, commanded the Prince’s Hussars (raised at Edinburgh), of which John Murray of Broughton was titular colonel. By the French Ambassador he is returned after Culloden as ‘blessé assez considérablement mais sans danger de la vie.’ (Cottin, Un Protégé de Bachaumont, p. 62.)

[369] Rev. William Taylor; ord. 1737; d. 1797, aged eighty-nine.

[370] On 22nd Feb., three troops (about 130 men) of Fitzjames’s regiment of horse landed at Aberdeen from France but without horses. There was great difficulty in mounting the men. Kilmarnock’s horse (sometimes called Strathallan’s, or the Perthshire Squadron) were dismounted and the horses given to the French cavalry, while the men were formed into foot-guards. By this time, says Maxwell of Kirkconnell, Pitsligo’s horse was dwindled away to nothing, and many of its members had joined infantry corps. Two of Fitzjames’s transports, the Bourbon and the Charité, with 359 of all ranks, including the Comte de Fitzjames, were captured by English cruisers.

[371] On 21st Feb. a picquet of 42 men of Berwick’s (French) regiment landed at Peterhead.

[372] I can trace no record of this landing. It may refer to Berwick’s picquets (see p. 151), or it may be a mistake.

[373] William Henry (Ker) (1710-75), afterwards 4th Marquess of Lothian; captain 1st Guards (Grenadiers) 1741; aide-de-camp to Cumberland at Fontenoy; lieut.-colonel in Lord Mark Ker’s Dragoons (11th Hussars) 1745; commanded the cavalry of the left wing at Culloden. His brother, Lord Robert Ker, a captain in Barrel’s regiment, was killed in the battle.

[374] Humphrey Bland (1686-1763), author of A Treatise on Discipline. At this time he was a major-general and colonel of the dragoon regiment now the 3rd Hussars. He was governor of Edinburgh Castle from 1752 till his death. He became Commander-in-Chief in Scotland in 1753.

[375] Probably a mistake for lieut.-colonel (the command is too great for a subaltern’s), and evidently means Robert Rich (1714-85), son of Field-Marshal Sir Robert Rich, whom he succeeded as 5th bart. in 1768. Rich was at this time lieut.-colonel of Barrel’s regiment the 4th (now the K. O. Royal Lancaster regiment). At Culloden Rich was badly wounded and lost his hand.

[376] See post, p. 307.

[377] Probably means ‘light-footed laddies.’ Cf. Oxford Dict., s.v. ‘leger.’

[378] Robert Hunter of Burnside, Monifieth, was captain in the Prince’s Life-Guards, and was very active throughout the campaign. He escaped to Bergen in Norway after Culloden, and for a time was held prisoner there, but apparently soon released, for in October he is on French King’s pension list for 1800 livres as a ‘gentilhomme eccossois arrivé depuis peu en France.’

[379] This took place on 17th March. The officer commanding the Jacobite party was Major Nicolas Glascoe, a lieutenant in Dillon’s Irish-French regiment. He acted as major and military instructor to the 2nd battalion of Lord Ogilvie’s regiment. He was made prisoner after Culloden, and tried at London in November, but pleading that he was born in France and held a French commission, he was released as a rebel, the irons were knocked off his legs, and he was treated as a prisoner of war.

[380] The husbands of these ladies were all in the Jacobite army.

[381] Cullen House was the home of Lord Findlater.

[382] William Thornton, of Thornville, near Knaresborough, raised and equipped a company, known as the ‘Yorkshire Blues,’ at his own expense in October 1745. He joined Wade’s army at Newcastle, and his company was attached to Pulteney’s regiment (13th, now Prince Albert’s Own Somersetshire Light Infantry), which was below strength. His henchman and servant was John Metcalf, better known as ‘Blind Jack of Knaresborough,’ afterwards celebrated as a civil engineer and maker of roads, but at this time a horse-coper and itinerant musician. At Falkirk the company served as escort to the artillery which covered itself with disgrace. Blind Jack fought at the battle in which his master and Lieutenant Crofts were taken prisoners. After the battle Blind Jack retreated to Edinburgh along with the remains of the company, now reduced to forty-eight from an original strength of sixty-four. In a quaint little book, The Life of John Metcalf (3rd edition, Leeds, 1802), there is a long and graphic account of how this blind man succeeded in rescuing his master. Donning a ‘plaid waist-coat,’ the Jacobite uniform, he made his way from Edinburgh to the battle field, where among the marauders hunting for plunder he found the wife of Lord George Murray’s cook, who gave him ‘a token’ for her husband. Giving out that he wished to be employed as a musician to Prince Charles, he made his way to Lord George Murray’s quarters at Falkirk, where that General gave him a glass of wine, and he had a conversation with several of the Jacobite leaders. Confined on suspicion for some days, he was acquitted by a court-martial. Finding his captain, he had him disguised as a Highlander and managed to escape with him. How Crofts and Simson escaped I do not know. The rev. ensign was Patrick Simson, minister of Fala, near Dalkeith (b. 1713; ord. 1743; transferred to Clunie, Dunkeld, 1759; d. 1771). How he joined Thornton’s ‘Blues’ I do not know; one would rather have expected to find him in the Glasgow regiment (see post, p. 198). The original ensign of the company had died at Newcastle, and Thornton may have appointed Simson when in Edinburgh. Simson had the reputation of being a sportsman, particularly an angler. (Scott, Fasti.) The Dict. of Nat. Biog. says that Blind Jack fought at Culloden, but it is not so stated in the life quoted above, and if this passage is correct it precludes the possibility. There is no mention in the Life of this incident at Ellon, nor any account of the company leaving the army.

[383] Cumberland left Aberdeen on April 8th.

[384] Meaning ‘a verminous swarm of red-coats.’

[385] A very considerable list of houses burnt in Aberdeen and Banff shires is given in the Lyon in Mourning, ii. 334, 335.

[386]By the Earl of Ancrum, Aid de Camp to His Majesty, and commanding the forces on the Eastern coast of North-Britain. Whereas arms have been found in several houses, contrary to his Royal Highness the Duke’s proclamation, this is therefore to give notice, That where-ever arms of any kind are found, that the house, and all houses belonging to the proprietor or his tenants, shall be immediately burnt to ashes; and that as some arms have been found under ground, that if any shall be discovered for the future, the adjacent houses and fields shall be immediately laid waste and destroyed.’

[Lord Loudoun’s orders]:—‘Whereas great part of the King’s arms belonging to the regiment commanded by the Rt. Hon. the Earl of Loudon, were taken away by the rebels in Sutherland, and by them distributed to people of different parts of the country; who, notwithstanding the many orders published by his Royal Highness the Duke, still detain them in their possession: These are to advertise such as do not deliver them in to the storehouse at Inverness, or to the commanding officer of any part of his Majesty’s forces who happens to be in their neighbourhood, by the first day of August, that the possessors where-ever they are found, whether civil or military, and of what rank soever, shall be prosecuted with the utmost rigour, as the law in that case directs.’

[387] This was an incident that occasioned fierce indignation in Aberdeen. August 1st was the date of the accession of the Hanoverian dynasty. Lord Ancram ordered the bells to be rung and the houses to be illuminated. It had not been the custom to illuminate, and the magistrates only ordered the bells to be rung. The soldiers of Fleming’s regiment (36th, now the Worcestershire), egged on by their officers, broke the windows, stoned the inhabitants, and did damage to the extent of £130, a large sum in those days to a town of the size of Aberdeen. In spite of the pretensions of the military authorities, who maintained that they were not liable to the civil government, the magistrates arrested a Captain Morgan and other officers, who were ringleaders in the riot. Morgan had been very active in hunting fugitive Jacobites, and his commanding officer, who calls Aberdeen ‘this infamous town,’ attributes his arrest to this cause. Representations were made to the Lord Justice-Clerk and to Lord Albemarle, the Commander-in-chief in Scotland, who both took a serious view of the case, the former writing to the latter that ‘the officers in the army were trampling on those very laws that they so lately defended at the expence of their blood.’ Ancram was rebuked by Albemarle, and removed from Aberdeen; though the trouble still smouldered it was temporarily patched up. (Alb. Pap., p. 27 seq.; Scots Mag., viii. 393.) Six months later the regiment left Aberdeen, marching out (it is said) to the tune ‘We’ll gang nae mair to yon toun.’ Cf. post, p. 189.

[388] Hugh (Abercromby-Sempill), fifth son of Anne, Baroness Sempill, and Francis Abercromby of Fetterneir. Succeeded his brother as 11th Lord Sempill 1727; served at Malplaquet, 1709, as an ensign; succeeded Lord Crawford as colonel of the Highland Regiment (Black Watch), 1741; colonel of the 25th (K. O. Scottish Borderers) 1745; brigadier-general 1745; commanded the left wing at Culloden; superseded Lord Ancram at Aberdeen 12th August, 1746; and died there 25th November following.

[389] Should be 25th; Sunday 24th was spent at Kendal, and Lancaster was reached the following day. (L. in M., ii. 120, 193.)

[390] I have little doubt that this name is a mistake for Geohagan, an Irishman, captain in Lally’s regiment, to whom, Lord Elcho states, the Prince gave a commission to raise an English regiment. The officers of the army remonstrated, and the commission was withdrawn. (Elcho, Affairs of Scotland, p. 327.) Geohagan was one of the French officers taken prisoner at Carlisle.

[391] Not identified.

[392] David Morgan was a Welshman from Monmouthshire, a barrister-at-law. He joined the Prince at Preston on 27th November, along with William Vaughan and Francis Towneley, all being from Wales. When at Derby it was determined to return to Scotland Morgan refused to go, saying, ‘it were better to be hanged in England than starved in Scotland’ (Tales of a Grandfather). He left the army at Ashbourne, on 6th December, to go to London to procure intelligence, with the knowledge and consent of the Prince and of Sheridan (Murray’s Memorials, 434). At his trial he pled that he had escaped as soon as it was in his power, but this plea was repelled. He was executed at Kennington Common on 30th July, along with Towneley, and seven other English officers. Morgan is thus described in the Compleat History of the Trials of the Rebels (p. 170): ‘David Morgan was about 51 Years of Age, born in Wales, and bred to the Law, and had frequently (as a Barrister) attended the Courts at Westminster-Hall, and elsewhere. He was a Person of a very mean Look, and seldom kept Company with any Gentlemen of his Neighbourhood; and if it had not been for his Estate, he might have starv’d, for he was so very lofty, and of so bad a Temper, that no body but such as were beholden to him cared to employ him. This Morgan was possessed of a very good Estate in St. Leonard’s, Shoreditch, but he let it all run to Ruin, because he would not pay the Ground-Rent. The Rebels call’d Morgan the Pretender’s Counsellor, and his Advice was consulted on every Occasion. Even after he was condemn’d, he was haughty and insolent beyond expression; and the very Afternoon before his Execution, he grumbled to pay the Cook who dress’d his Dinner, and said she was very extravagant in her Demands. The Morning (about Six o’Clock) before he went to Execution, he order’d Coffee to be made, and bid them take Care to make it very good and strong, for he had never drank any since he had been in that Prison fit to come near a Gentleman; and because it was ready before he was unlock’d, he seem’d angry, and in a great Passion.’

Morgan was the author of a rather dull satirical political poem of 630 verses, entitled The Country Bard or the Modern Courtiers, inscribed to H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, a quarto originally printed in 1741, and republished in 1746 after his execution. It is prefaced by a dedicatory letter to Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, the Welsh Jacobite baronet. In his dying declaration, handed to the sheriff on the scaffold, Morgan writes that he is a member of the Church of England, and that he has fully set forth his faith in a poem of two books entitled The Christian Test or the Coalition of Faith and Reason, the first of which he had already published, and the latter he bequeathed to his daughter to be published by her. Morgan seems to have had a certain notoriety as member of a Jacobite club at Westminster, judging by a very coarse jeu d’esprit bearing the title A Faithful Narrative of the wonderful and surprising Appearance of Counsellor Morgan’s ghost at the meeting ... giving a full and true Account of the Behaviour of the Club on that occasion.... This folio, for it has that dignity, is followed by another entitled An Appeal from the late David Morgan, Esq., Barrister-at-Law ... against a late Scurrilous Paper.... My copy of the second pamphlet bears the note in contemporary handwriting ‘By one Fielding a concealer of the Law,’ and it is possible it may be by Henry Fielding, who at this time gave himself to ironical writing of this kind in the True Patriot and the Jacobite’s Journal. Both pamphlets are full of topical allusions and scarcely concealed names. Morgan was also the subject of a brutally coarse print entitled ‘An Exact Description of the Solemn Procession of Councellor Morgan’s ghost to the Rump of the Westminster Independents.’

[393] The only elucidation of this I can suggest is from a passage in the Appeal above mentioned in which Morgan’s ghost is made to visit his friends, but ‘with neither a greyhound upon his breast nor a writ in his hand,’ perhaps suggesting that in life he was in the habit of carrying writs and being accompanied by a greyhound.

[394] The colonel appointed was Francis Towneley, an English Roman Catholic; b. 1709; fifth son of Charles Towneley of Towneley Hall, Lancashire; went to France 1728, and entered the French army; served at the siege of Philipsbourg under the Duke of Berwick, but after the peace following the War of the Polish Succession, returned to England, and lived privately in Wales until 1745. The French king sent him a colonel’s commission about the time of the intended invasion of 1744. (See Towneley MSS., privately printed.) He was given command of the Manchester regiment, as told here; was left governor of the town of Carlisle when the army retreated to Scotland in December; entirely opposed to surrendering to Cumberland, flying into a passion with Hamilton, the governor of the castle (see pp. 118, 193), and declaring ‘that it was better to die by the sword than to fall into the hands of those damned Hanovarians.’ (Evidence at Trial.) At Hamilton’s trial evidence was given that he too desired to hold out to the last, but was overruled by his officers. Towneley was tried at Southwark in July 1746; pled that his French commission entitled him to be treated as a prisoner of war, not a rebel; but this was repelled as, being an Englishman born, it was illegal to serve a sovereign at war with the British king; executed on Kennington Common, July 30th, and Hamilton on Nov. 15th.

[395] The Prince’s Life Guards: there were two troops, one commanded by Lord Elcho, the other by Colonel Elphinstone, afterwards Lord Balmerino.

[396] The army left Manchester on 1st December. The quarrel which caused Lord George Murray’s resignation of his commission as lieut.-gen. took place at Carlisle on 15th November, when the command was given to the Duke of Perth. Daniel cannot be correct in stating that Lord George was not reinstated until the army was at Manchester; the quarrel was made up before leaving Carlisle on November 20th, when Lord George led the van. Daniel, who did not join the army until the 24th or 25th, is probably writing from hazy recollection of what he had been told.

[397] Weir or Vere was the principal witness at the trials of the officers taken prisoner at Carlisle.

[398] Jean Louis Ligonnier, generally termed Sir John Ligonier, K.B., a naturalised French Protestant; b. at Castres, France, 1680; emigrated to Dublin; fought under Marlborough through most of his campaigns; major-general 1739; lieut.-general 1743; commanded the infantry at Fontenoy; commanded the army sent to Staffordshire to oppose the Jacobites, until relieved by the Duke of Cumberland, 27th November; commander-in-chief 1757; created Viscount Ligonier 1757; Earl Ligonier 1766; field-marshal 1760; d. 1770. He had a brother Francis, who succeeded Colonel Gardiner in command of the Dragoon regiment, now 13th Hussars. Francis Ligonier, though suffering from pleurisy, fought at Falkirk, caught more cold, and died a few days later.

[399] 6th December 1745 (Black Friday).

[400] The journals of the day and most authorities estimate the number at about 800. They consisted of Lord John Drummond’s own French regiment, ‘the Royal Scots,’ and the Irish picquets, or 50 men picked from each of the six Irish regiments in the French service. Two of the transports were taken on the voyage and 260 of all ranks made prisoner. On the eve of Culloden, the French envoy reported to his government that the numbers of French troops then were: Irish Picquets reduced to a half but recruited by 148 prisoners and deserters up to 260 men; Royal Scots about 350; detachment of Berwick’s regiment (p. 151) 42; Fitzjames’s horse 131; making a total of about 780. (Cottin, op. cit. p. 36.)

[401] See ante, p. 143.

[402] ‘Tuesday, 10th December.—They have ordered a contribution of £5000 for the insolence of the mob, but with much ado they have got it to one-half, to raise it by one o’clock.’ (Journal of Elizabeth Byrom, Manchester, in 1745.)

[403] Hon. Arthur Elphinstone; b. 1688; held captain’s commission in Shannon’s foot (25th, now King’s Own Scottish Borderers), which he resigned in 1716 to join Mar’s Jacobite army; served in the French army; on a pardon being offered to him he declined to accept it until he had received the Chevalier’s consent, which was given; joined Prince Charles at Edinburgh; received the command of the second troop of Life Guards; on the death of his brother, 5th January 1746, he succeeded as 6th Lord Balmerino and 5th Lord Coupar; the army was then at Stirling. The day after Culloden he surrendered to the Grants. Tried by the House of Lords and condemned to death; beheaded, 18th August 1746.

[404] Col. James Alex. Grant or Grante, a member of the staff of the French Royal Observatory. He landed at Montrose in October along with the French envoy. He served as master of ordnance to Prince Charles. He planned the siege of Carlisle, which succeeded. He communicated a plan for the siege of Stirling Castle, which was abandoned, as it exposed the town to destruction, and the charge was given to another French engineer, Mirabel de Gordon, who utterly failed. Grant planned the siege of Fort Augustus, which succeeded. He then planned the siege of Fort William, but was disabled at the outset by a contusion from a spent cannon ball: Mirabel was given charge of the siege, and again signally failed. Grant prepared an elaborate map of the expedition, published in French, English, and Italian editions, which are all described in the Itinerary, pp. 104-107.

[405] The Yorkshire Hunters, a corps of volunteer cavalry, which did not distinguish itself greatly. Its war-song, set to music, will be found in the Gentleman’s Magazine, December 1745.

[406] Daniel probably means the Dutch troops, some of which landed at Berwick and the Tyne in Sept. ’45. The Hessians did not come over until Feb. ’46.

[407] See ante, p. 150.

[408] Should be Cluny Macpherson.

[409] This is the celebrated ‘Skirmish of Clifton,’ fought 18th December; described by Sir Walter Scott in Waverley, chap. lix. and note. Both sides claimed the victory. The late Chancellor Ferguson wrote an exhaustive monograph on the subject (Kendal, 1889) showing that both were technically right. The Jacobite rear-guard fought to protect the army’s retreat to Carlisle, and entirely succeeded in their object; Cumberland’s troops retained possession of the field, but were too crippled to pursue. Daniel, I think, shows a certain animus in entirely ignoring Lord George Murray, who directed this action and fought it with great bravery and skill.

[410] At the surrender of Carlisle to Cumberland on 30th December the following officers were captured:—

English, 20 officers and 1 chaplain—of these 9 officers and the chaplain were executed;

Scots, 17 officers and 1 surgeon—of these 5 officers were executed;

French, 3 officers, who were treated as prisoners of war.

In addition 93 English, 256 Scots, 5 French non-commissioned officers and men were taken prisoner.

[411] This date is wrong; it should be 20th December, the Prince’s birthday and the day he left Carlisle. The date is often given as 31st December, which is the New Style equivalent. Old Style was used in Great Britain until 1752.

[412] The Rev. John Bisset, one of the ministers of St. Nicholas Church, Aberdeen, from 1728 to 1756. He was a man of strong personality who spoke his mind, and was not very popular with his brethren. Bisset kept a Diary during the Rising of ’45, most of which is printed in the Spalding Club Misc., vol. i. In that volume there is no reference to this sermon, nor do I know when it was preached. It is referred to in general terms by the late Mr. Watt in his County History of Aberdeen and Banff, p. 303. The sermon was probably printed or Daniel could not have quoted it, but Mr. P. J. Anderson, who has kindly searched the Aberdeen University Library, cannot find a copy. Bisset, though uncompromisingly inimical to the Jacobites, declined an official meeting with the Duke of Cumberland as a member of the Aberdeen Synod, but he obtained a private interview as ‘he had reasons for being alone.’ Bisset so deeply offended the duke that he refused ever after to enter a Presbyterian church. (Henderson, Hist. of the Rebellion, 5th ed., p. 307.)

[413] This refers to the Prince’s army. The Prince himself was never in Aberdeen.

[414] A party of Dumfries townsfolk had cut off a detachment of the Jacobite army’s baggage during the advance to England in November. As a reprisal Prince Charles fined the town £2000. Only £1100 could be raised in the time given, so he carried off the provost and another citizen as security till the balance was paid. (Scots Mag., vii. 533, 581.)

[415] The army began to arrive on Christmas Day. Charles himself entered on foot at the head of the clans on 26th December. He remained in Glasgow until 3rd January.

[416] A very different story is told by Provost Cochrane of Glasgow, who wrote: ‘Our very ladys had not the curiosity to go near him, and declined going to a ball held by his chiefs. Very few were at the windows when he made his appearance, and such as were declared him not handsome. This no doubt fretted.’ (Cochrane Correspondence, Maitland Club, p. 63.) Probably both versions have a certain amount of truth, and the situation must have been similar to that of an earlier royalist leader when riding through Edinburgh:—

‘As he rode down the sanctified bends of the Bow,
Ilk carline was flyting and shaking her pow;
But the young plants of grace they looked couthie and slee,
Thinking, luck to thy bonnet, thou Bonny Dundee!’

[417] The Prince’s Master of the Household says: ‘The Prince dressed more elegantly when in Glasgow than he did in any other place whatsomever.’ Lord Elcho says he was ‘dress’d in the French dress.’

[418] Mirabel de Gordon, a French engineer, who completely failed at the siege of Stirling, as he afterwards did at the siege of Fort William. Lord George Murray says of him that he understood his business, but was so volatile he could not be depended upon: Lord Macleod states that he was always drunk.

[419] Brown was a French-Irishman, a captain in Lally’s regiment, who came over with the French envoy in October. He was left in Carlisle, but escaped at the surrender. After Falkirk he was sent to France to carry the news of the victory to Louis XV., who made him a colonel in the French army. He returned to Scotland in March in the Hazard sloop, which was driven ashore by four men-of-war at Tongue in Sutherland, when the passengers and crew were captured by Lord Reay and his militia.

[420] Probably William Maxwell of Carruchan, Kirkcudbrightshire, who acted as chief engineer in the defence of Carlisle against the Duke of Cumberland.

[421] See ante, pp. 173, 187. Whatever may have been expected or mentioned verbally, Cumberland’s written conditions were: ‘All the terms H.R.H. will or can grant to the rebel garrison at Carlisle are that they shall not be put to the sword, but be reserved for the king’s pleasure.’

[422] Lord George Murray was criticised at the time, even by his friends, for being on foot fighting with his men instead of being on horseback as a general watching the action and controlling events. (Elcho, Affairs of Scotland, p. 376.) Criticism was also extended to other generals and staff-officers, particularly to O’Sullivan, who was never seen during the action and was accused of cowardice.

[423] Sir Robert Munro of Foulis, 24th baron and 5th bart.; b. 1684; suc. 1729; M.P. for Wick Burghs 1710-41. His mother was an aunt of Duncan Forbes of Culloden. Entered the army early, and was captain in the Royal Scots by 1705; served under Marlborough in Flanders, where he made a lifelong friendship with Colonel Gardiner (killed at Prestonpans); a commissioner of the Forfeited Estates Commission 1716-40; appointed lieut.-colonel and commandant of the new Highland Regiment (Black Watch) when embodied 1740; fought at Fontenoy; promoted in June 1745 to be colonel in the 37th (now the Hampshire Regiment), which he commanded at Falkirk.

Dr. Duncan Munro (b. 1687), Sir Robert’s brother, had been a doctor in India but retired home in 1726. He accompanied his brother from fraternal affection in the hope of being of use to him, for the colonel was very corpulent.

For George of Culcairn, a third brother, who fell a victim in ’46, see ante, p. 103.

[424] I am not aware of any ministers killed, though there may have been some in the Glasgow and Paisley volunteer or militia regiments, which suffered severely. In the Glasgow regiment, commanded by the Earl of Home, was John Home, afterwards celebrated as author of Douglas and of a History of the Rebellion. He was lieutenant, and during the battle in command of a company of Edinburgh volunteers. Home with several other volunteers was taken prisoner and lodged in Doune Castle. One of the prisoners was the Rev. John Witherspoon (1723-94), then minister of Beith, near Paisley; afterwards in 1768 president of Princeton College, New Jersey, a leader in the American Revolution, and a very active member of the first congress of the United States. Home gives a graphic account of their escape in his history. Later in the year Home became minister of Athelstaneford in East Lothian.

[425] Lockhart was a major in Cholmondeley’s regiment, the 34th (now the Border Regiment). He was taken prisoner at Falkirk and released on parole. After Culloden he especially distinguished himself by extraordinary barbarity and the perpetration of terrible cruelties on the hunted fugitives. For instances refer to the Lyon in Mourning.

[426] Every man of common sense who has the least Idea of Military Matters must well know that, where there is only a small Body of Cavalry attached to an army of light Infantry, as in this case, such Cavalry must be inevitably harrassed because there are not many bodies of horse to relieve each other. [Note in the Drummond Castle MS.]

[427] A village between Stirling and Bannockburn; spelt St. Ninians, but locally pronounced St. Ringans.

[428] John Baggot, see ante, p. 150.

[429] See ante, p. 101.

[430] Gordon Castle.

[431] See ante, p. 151.

[432] This is a vague and incorrect report, probably the camp rumour, of Lord George Murray’s doings at this time. By a remarkable secret march from Inverness, he simultaneously surprised, on 17th March, a large number of military posts garrisoned by the Government militia in Perthshire, taking 300 prisoners. He then laid siege to Blair Castle, defended by Sir Andrew Agnew, but his guns were too small to hurt the old castle. He probably would have starved out the garrison, but the advance of Cumberland’s army caused his recall to Inverness.

[433] This being from an enemy is perhaps the most flattering tribute to President Forbes’s achievement for his Government.

[434] Cf. post, p. 364.

[435] See ante, p. 155.

[436] See ante, p. 157.

[437] Cumberland left Aberdeen on 8th April.

[438] Lady Catherine Gordon, daughter of the 2nd Earl of Aberdeen.

[439] See post, p. 230.

[440] 15th April.

[441] This is a calumny founded on ignorance of what was passing at a distance from the local situation of the writer—Lord George was leading the van to the attack of the Enemy’s Camp, which would have been surprised if the rear division had not hung back, and retarded the advance of the van ’till it was too late to storm. [Note in the Drummond Castle MS.]

[442] The fact was directly the Reverse—Lord George had used every endeavour to induce the Prince to cross the River, and occupy strong ground which Brigadier Stapleton[656] and Colonel Kerr[657] had examined two days before at his Lordships desire. [Note in the Drummond Castle MS.][658]

[443] Ruthven in Badenoch, on the east side of the Spey, near Kingussie.

[444] Daniel is a little out in his recollection of time. Culloden was fought on 16th April, while he left Scotland on 4th May (see p. 223), only eighteen days after the battle.

[445] This gold was 40,000 louis d’ors. Part of it, ‘Cluny’s Treasure,’ was concealed in Loch Arkaig, and left there for nine years under the care of Cluny Macpherson.

[446] The British ships were the Greyhound, the Baltimore, and the Terror. (S. M., viii. 238.)

[447] William Harrison, a native of Strathbogie, who, when most of his brethren had been taken prisoner or driven from their charges, went to the sheriff of Argyllshire, ‘told him frankly that he was a Catholic priest, but had neither done nor meant harm to anybody, and begged protection. The sheriff was well pleased with his confidence, and gave him a paper signed by himself requiring of everybody to allow him to go about his lawful business unmolested. In consequence of this, Mr. Harrison, in the summers of 1746 and 1747, visited almost all the Catholics in the Highlands, administering the sacraments, and exhorting the people to patience and perseverance in the faith.’ (Bishop Geddes’s MS.)

[448] The ships left Lochnanuagh on May 4th. (L. in M., iii. 383; Scots Mag., viii. 239.)

[449] Son of Thomas Sheridan, a fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, D.C.L. (Oxon.) and F.R.S., an Irish Protestant who followed James II. into exile and became his private secretary. His wife (it is said) was a natural daughter of the king. The son, Sir Thomas, who was a Catholic, was engaged in the ’15; appointed tutor to Prince Charles 1724 or ’25, and created a baronet ’26. Attended the Prince at the siege of Gaeta ’34. In April ’44 after the abandonment of the French invasion the Prince asked for him, and his father reluctantly sent Sheridan to France, warning his son to be careful in his dealings with him. Sheridan accompanied the Prince to Scotland and acted as his private secretary throughout the campaign. On arrival in France in ’46 he was summoned to Rome by the Chevalier; accused of deserting the Prince but exhibited his written orders to leave. He died at Rome a few months later, his death being variously attributed to mortification at the Chevalier’s reproaches, or to grief at the Prince’s disasters.

[450] He had accompanied the Marquis d’Eguilles to Scotland as interpreter.

[451] John Hay of Restalrig, near Edinburgh, brother of Thomas Hay, Lord Huntington, who married the sister of John Murray of Broughton (see p. 49). He was an Edinburgh Writer to the Signet, admitted 1726; Substitute-Keeper of the Signet 1725-41 and 1742-46; fiscal 1732-34; treasurer 1736-46. He acted as treasurer to the Prince, and when Murray of Broughton fell ill at Inverness in March he succeeded him as Secretary. Lord George Murray attributed much of the disaster of Culloden to his neglect or inefficiency in provisioning the army, a duty which Murray had always performed well. Hay held a colonel’s commission in the Jacobite army. He attached himself to Prince Charles after leaving Scotland, became major-domo of his household when he went to Rome after his father’s death in 1766; created a Jacobite baronet in that year; dismissed in 1768; returned to Scotland 1771; died 1784.

[452] Alexander Macleod, an Edinburgh advocate, was aide-de-camp to the Prince throughout the campaign. His father, John, also an advocate, was a grandson of Sir Norman Macleod of Bernera, and was a first cousin of Lady Clanranald. He had purchased Muiravonside in Stirlingshire, two miles from Linlithgow. Alexander was sent from Edinburgh in September to summon to the Prince’s standard Sir Alexander Macdonald of Sleat and Macleod of Macleod, both his near kinsmen. This mission, in which he failed owing to the stronger influence of Duncan Forbes, brought on him the special anger of the Government. He was attainted, and for thirty-two years he wandered in the wildest regions of the Western Highlands and Islands. He received a pardon in 1778, and died in 1784. He was in Raasay when Dr. Johnson and Boswell visited that island in September 1773. He was generally known as Sandie Macleod in the Islands, and had also acquired the nickname of M‘Cruslick, signifying a cross between Proteus and Don Quixote. He possessed the most boisterous spirits, which delighted Johnson and irritated Boswell.

[453] See post, p. 230, n. 2.

[454] Allan Macdowell is a mistake for Macdonell or rather Macdonald, as his name is afterwards correctly spelled. He was a ‘native of the Isles’ and a clansman of Clanranald’s; he went out with the clan as chaplain when the standard was raised, and continued with the army until the end of the campaign. He also acted as confessor to the Prince. He and Æneas M‘Gillis, the chaplain of Glengarry’s men, were the only priests that accompanied the Highlanders to Prestonpans. They wore the Highland dress, with sword and pistol, and were styled captains. At the battle of Falkirk Mr. Macdonald rode along the line and gave his blessing, which the Catholics received kneeling. From Culloden he accompanied the Prince in his flight and in the earlier part of his wanderings, leaving him at Scalpa. Later on he was apprehended in South Uist, and sent with some other priests to London in Ferguson’s ship the Furness. He and four other clergymen were examined by the Duke of Newcastle, who informed them that they might leave the country on finding bail for £1000 each not to return. They pointed out that the bail was quite beyond their power, on which the Duke smilingly replied that they were honest men and he would take each man’s bail for the other. Macdonald went to Paris, and in 1748 to Rome, where he lived for many years. (Bishop Geddes’s MS.) I do not know if he ever returned.

[455] Sic in N. M. Mag. Most likely an error caused by careless transcription and meant to read, ‘to Gortlick’s house [not horge] a gentleman of the name of Thomas Fraser.’ Gortlick, more generally spelt Gortuleg, belonged to Thomas Fraser, a cadet of Lovat’s. It was in this house and on this occasion that Prince Charles had his memorable meeting with Lord Lovat which is dramatically described by Mrs. Grant of Laggan. (See Wariston’s Diary and Other Papers, p. 265, Scot. Hist. Soc., vol. xxvi.)

[456] Stratherrick.

[457] Neil, who at this period is writing from hearsay, is quite wrong here. Glengarry was not at home and the house was ‘without meat, drink, fire or candle, except some firr-sticks!’ Had Ned Bourke not netted a couple of salmon, there would have been nothing to eat. (L. in M., i. 89, 191.)

[458] Angus MacEachain (or Macdonald) was a son-in-law of Angus Macdonald of Borradale. He had served in the campaign as a surgeon in Glengarry’s regiment.

The family of MacEachain-Macdonald of Drimindarach, Arisaig, was a branch of the Clanranalds, descended from Eachain (or Hector), a younger son of Roderick, 2nd Clanranald. Neil MacEachain was of the MacEachains of Howbeg, a junior branch of the sept. Both families have long since resumed their earlier name, Macdonald, dropping the name MacEachain.

[459] This was the Prince’s second visit to Borradale House on Lochnanuagh. It was here he stayed on his first landing in July 1745. He came again to Borradale in July 1746, after his wanderings in the Hebrides, by which time the house had been burned down by Cumberland’s soldiers; he finally returned to Borradale on 19th September, whence he sailed for France the following day. Angus Macdonald, the tacksman of Borradale, was a son of the 5th laird of Glenaladale, a cadet of Clanranald’s, and was a first cousin of Flora Macdonald. Borradale’s descendant, Colonel John Andrew Macdonald, is to-day laird of Glenaladale.

[460] Captain Felix O’Neille, born at Rome, son of a brigadier in the Spanish service. He served in the Spanish army until 1744, when he joined Lally’s French-Irish regiment as captain. Was sent to Scotland with despatches from the Duc de Richelieu in March 1746. After Culloden he accompanied Prince Charles during the first two months of his wanderings and shared his discomforts. He was captured in Benbecula by Captain John Ferguson of the Furness. He was confined in Edinburgh Castle until February 1747, when he was released on parole and subsequently exchanged (Scots Mag., ix. 92). He wrote a journal of his wanderings, which is printed in The Lyon, i. 102, 365.

[461] John William O’Sullivan; b. in Co. Kerry, 1700; educated in France and Rome for the priesthood, and, it is said (Fielding’s True Patriot), took orders. Entered the family of Maréchal de Maillebois as tutor, afterwards secretary. Joined the French army and served under Maillebois in Corsica; afterwards in Italy and on the Rhine. Recommended to D’Argenson as an officer ‘who understood the irregular art of war better than any other man in Europe, nor was his knowledge in the regular much inferior to that of the best general living.’ Entered the household of Prince Charles about 1744; accompanied him to Scotland and acted as adjutant-general, as well as private adviser, during the campaign. Was with the Prince in his wanderings until 20th June. Escaped to France in a French cutter. Knighted by the Chevalier about Christmas 1746, and created by him a baronet of Ireland 1753. Date of death not ascertained.

[462] Donald Macleod of Gualtergil, on Dunvegan Loch, Skye, the faithful ‘Palinurus’ of Prince Charles from 21st April to 20th June. He was captured in Benbecula in July, and taken to London in Ferguson’s ship; released June ’47; died at Gualtergil in May ’49, aged 72. His wife was a sister of Macdonald of Borradale and a first cousin of Flora Macdonald.

[463] It seems absurd to write of seizing the boat and stealing away. In addition to the Prince’s five attendants, O’Sullivan, O’Neil, Allan Macdonald, Ned Bourke, and Donald Macleod, there was a crew of seven boatmen, probably the servants of Borradale who must have known. It is true, however, that the Prince’s intended departure was concealed from most of the Jacobite officers assembled in Arisaig.

[464] Neil is right as to the day of the week, but wrong as to the day of the month. It should be Sunday, 27th April. See Itinerary.

[465] Rev. John Macaulay, son of the Rev. Aulay Macaulay, minister of Harris, was ordained parish minister of South Uist in May 1745. He was subsequently minister of Lismore and Appin 1755; Inverary 1765, and finally of Cardross 1775. He died 1789. At Inveraray he had a good deal of intercourse with Dr. Johnson in 1773, duly recorded by Boswell in the Tour to the Hebrides. John Macaulay was the father of Zachary Macaulay, and grandfather of Lord Macaulay.

[466] i.e. Neil MacEachain.

[467] Rev. Aulay Macaulay, formerly of Tyree; appointed to Harris 1712; died 1758; aged about eighty-five.

[468] Rev. Colin Mackenzie was not minister of Stornoway but of Lochs, the parish to the south of Stornoway.

[469] Should be 30th April.

[470] Donald Campbell was the brother-in-law of Hugh Macdonald of Baleshare and of Donald Roy Macdonald, the former of whom is mentioned later on; the latter, though of the family of Sleat, had served in Glengarry’s regiment. Donald Roy took over charge of the Prince when he said farewell to Flora Macdonald at Portree in Skye. (L. in M., ii. 21.) An anecdote of Campbell’s fidelity to the Prince when he protected him against a party headed by Aulay Macaulay the minister is given in the Itinerary. Neil MacEachain does not love Donald Campbell, but Ned Bourke, who was one of the party, calls him ‘one of the best, honestest fellows that ever drew breath.’ (L. in M., i. 191.)

[471] Lady Kildin should be spelt Kildun. This lady was the wife of Colin Mackenzie of Kildun, a grandson of the 2nd Earl of Seaforth. Mackenzie’s sister was the second wife of Donald, 16th Clanranald, the mother of Macdonald of Boisdale, and stepmother of old Clanranald of the ’45. From private letters belonging to Frances, Lady Muir Mackenzie, I find that Colin Mackenzie was then in London.

[472] Neil MacEachain is all wrong here in the sequence of events and in his dates. He was writing from hearsay only. The true sequence will be found with authorities for the same in the Itinerary, pp. 48-50.

[473] A quarter of a peck of oatmeal not threshed, but burnt out of the ear.

[474] This was strictly in accordance with Hebridean honesty, continued to this day. The Prince desired to leave money on the rocks to pay for the fish, but O’Sullivan and O’Neille (not the islanders) dissuaded him. Cf. L. in M., i. 172.

[475] Prince Charles landed in Benbecula, Clanranald’s island, on 11th May, and from this time onward Neil writes from knowledge, not hearsay.

[476] South Uist.

[477] Ranald was afterwards taken prisoner and sent to London.

[478] Corradale is a picturesque valley situated in the mountainous part of South Uist, which occupies the middle of the east side of the island, whose northern, western, and southern confines are wonderfully flat. Corradale lies about the middle of this district, running north-west from the sea, between the mountains Hekla and Benmore, each about 2000 feet high. If approached by sea it was easy for a fugitive to get away to inaccessible hiding-places in the mountains, while if attacked from the land he could escape by sea. Prince Charles’s lodging was a forester’s house not far from the shore. On the north side of the glen, close to the sea, there is a fairly commodious cave, traditionally but erroneously the dwelling-place of the Prince. This cave was probably the rock under which Neil left the Prince while he looked for strangers. Considering the weather to be expected in this island, there can be little doubt that the Prince often sat there for shelter while he looked out for passing ships, as the cave commands an excellent view of the offing to the south-east.

[479] The actual stay at Corradale was from 14th May to 5th June, although the Prince was in South Uist until 24th June. For details, see the Itinerary.

[480] See ante, p. 213, and Introduction.

[481] Moidart.

[482] In Ordnance Survey Glen Quoich, to the west of Loch Garry. I have no knowledge of the actions here referred to.

[483] Donald Macdonald, second son of Clanranald, served as captain in his brother ‘Young Clanranald’s’ regiment throughout the campaign. His mother was Margaret, d. of William Macleod of Luskintyre, son of Sir Norman Macleod of Bernera, and Catherine, d. of Sir James ‘Mor’ Macdonald of Sleat, 2nd bart. Donald’s uncle, Alexander Macleod, was at this time laird of Luskintyre in Harris. Donald was afterwards captured and imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle, but discharged without trial. In 1756 he joined Fraser’s Highlanders (the Master of Lovat’s); fought with Wolfe at Quebec and was killed in a subsequent action.

[484] i.e. Boisdale.

[485] Hugh Macdonald of Baleshare, an island to the south-west of North Uist, was of the Sleat family, his father being a natural son of Sir James ‘Mor,’ 2nd bart., and his mother a daughter of the 13th Clanranald. As Sir Alexander of Sleat and Lady Clanranald were both great-grandchildren of Sir James ‘Mor,’ they were nearly related to Baleshare, being in the Scots phrase ‘first-cousins once removed.’ Baleshare’s sister was the wife of Donald Campbell, the Prince’s host in Scalpa. Hugh of Baleshare had been sent to South Uist by Lady Margaret Macdonald, the wife of Sir Alexander of Sleat then in attendance on Cumberland at Fort Augustus, while his men were out against the broken Jacobites. Lady Margaret had sent Baleshare secretly with money and little luxuries to relieve the Prince’s discomfort and to help him generally. At one time it was proposed that Baleshare should conceal Prince Charles in his own island, but the scheme was abandoned as it might compromise his chief, Sir Alexander.

[486] This power of drinking seems to have made a great impression. Baleshare told Bishop Forbes that the Prince ‘still had the better of us, and even of Boystill [Boysdale] himself, notwithstanding his being as able a boulman as any in Scotland.’ It is generally assumed that Prince Charles acquired his drinking habits as a result of his hardships in Scotland, yet his anxious father had detected symptoms of an over-fondness for wine even before he left Rome in 1744. In a letter to Colonel O’Bryen (Lord Lismore), his envoy at the French Court, in August 1745, the Old Chevalier writes: ‘La grande vivacité du Prince, son penchant pour toutes sortes de divertissements, et un peu trop de goût qu’il sembloit alors avoir pour le vin, leur ont faire croire faussement qu’ils avoient gagné quelque chose sur son esprit et il devint bientôt par là leur Héros.’ (Stuart Papers, Browne, Hist. of the High., iii. 445.)

[487] See post, p. 249, n. 3.

[488] Should be Ulinish. He was a first cousin of Sir Alexander Macdonald, whose mother was a Macleod of Greshornish. Alexander Macleod was made sheriff-substitute in Skye in 1773. In 1791 he was alive and in his 100th year.

[489] Captain John Ferguson was the fourth son of George Ferguson, one of six brothers, members of a family long resident at Inverurie. The eldest was the celebrated or notorious ‘Ferguson the Plotter’ of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries; other brothers founded the families of Pitfour and Kinmundy. George lived and died at Old Meldrum near Inverurie, so it may be supposed that his son, John, was born there. Nothing is known of his early career, but in 1746 John Ferguson was in command of H.M.S. Furness, (which is always spelt Furnace in the Scottish journals and narratives of the time), and was employed in hunting fugitive Jacobites. He was the ‘black captain’ of the ’45, one of the most active and ruthless of the Government officers. His cruelties are a constant theme in Jacobite annals (see the Lyon from the index). Captain O’Neille, who was one of his prisoners, states that Ferguson used him with the barbarity of a pirate, stripped him, and ordered him to be put into a rack and whipped by his hangman because he would not confess where he thought the Prince was. (L. in M., i. 374.) Ferguson was promoted in the same year, by the express interference and recommendation of the Duke of Cumberland, to be captain of the Nightingale, a new frigate just launched. He died in 1767. (Records of Clan Ferguson, p. 280.) Ferguson’s greatest exploit was the capture of Lord Lovat, which was effected with skill. Lovat had taken refuge in an island on Loch Morar, a fresh-water lake, and had removed all the boats on the loch to the island. Ferguson landed a party, who saw the fugitives, whom they could not reach, and by whom they were greeted with cries of derision. He then sent a boat ashore from his ship, carried it over a mile or so of rugged country, and launched it on Loch Morar. Lovat’s party rowed rapidly up the loch, and got on shore, but after three days’ concealment, the old lord, unable from infirmities to continue the struggle, determined to give himself up, sent word to his pursuers and surrendered to Captain Dugald Campbell of Achacrossan of the Argyll Militia.

[490] Fuyia, which I have corrected from Fugia in the N. M. Maga., as it is a manifest error of the copyist or printer. Fuyia gives the local pronunciation of the name of the island, which is generally spelt Ouia in the Lyon, and Wiay in the Ordnance Survey maps. It is spelt Fouay on p. 253.

[491] Alexander Macdonald of Boisdale (Clanranald’s step-brother) was carried prisoner to London, and kept there until July 1747, when he was released.

[492] This was Boisdale’s third wife, Anne, daughter of Macneil of Barra.

[493] Captain Carolina Frederick Scott shares with Ferguson and Lockhart eternal infamy for his superlative cruelty to the hunted Jacobites of the Western Highlands. I found his name and that of Ferguson still perfectly remembered in the Outer Hebrides, and received with execrations. He was an officer of Guise’s regiment, the 6th (now the Royal Warwickshire). His satanic zeal, like Ferguson’s, was rewarded with promotion. In November 1746 he was appointed major in his regiment in the room of Major Wentworth, who was cashiered for surrendering Fort Augustus to the Jacobites (March 5th), when three companies of Guise’s regiment were made prisoners of war.

[494] Meaning Captain O’Neille.

[495] This is the Beinchillkoinnich of the Lyon (i. 329), the Beinn Ruigh Choinnich of the Ordnance Survey; a hill on the north side of Loch Boisdale, 900 feet high, from whence the low-lying country of South Uist can be viewed from sea to sea. On the northern spur there is a cave accessible only by a precipitous narrow ledge, where shelter from the weather could be had and an outlook to the Minch. Local tradition associates this cave with the Prince. He possibly took shelter there on this momentous day. South Uist, even in summer, is a very rainy island.

[496] Hugh Macdonald of Armadale, in Skye, was Flora Macdonald’s step-father. He was a grandson of Sir James ‘Mor’ Macdonald of Sleat, and was thus a first cousin of Sir Alexander’s father, and of Lady Clanranald’s father, as well as of Baleshare and Mrs. Campbell of Scalpa. He was a captain in one of Sir Alexander Macdonald’s independent companies out against Prince Charles. He had formerly been an officer in the French army. (Henderson’s Life of Cumberland, p. 299.)

[497] Daughter of Alexander (Montgomerie), 9th Earl of Eglinton. Married as his second wife to Sir Alexander Macdonald of Sleat; d. 1799.

[498] At Alisary, on the slopes of Sheaval, a hill to the south of Loch Eynort, and rising to the north-east from Flora’s old home of Milton (or Arrivoulin) on the low ground near the ocean. This was the hill pasture of her brother’s farm to which the cattle were driven in summer, while the owners occupied ‘shielings’ or temporary huts in the neighbourhood. It was an excellent place to meet. The western side of the island is a wide belt of dead level links formed by the sand thrown up by the swell of the Atlantic, and known as ‘the Machar.’ No wayfarer on the Machar could easily escape detection even if he were miles away, and it was the night of the full moon. Flora’s shieling was near the western end of the hill region of South Uist, and just about as far west as the Prince could have dared to go without losing the shelter of the hills.

[499] Benbecula, that part of the ‘Long Island’ lying between North and South Uist, and joined to these islands by sea-fords passable only at low tide and thus easily guarded.

[500] I found that the custom of nick-naming local notabilities after distinguished statesmen still exists. When I was visiting these islands fifteen years ago I met a crofter known as ‘Gladstone’ on account of his financial ability and his persuasive powers of (Gaelic) oratory, and there were others whose nick-names I have forgotten.

[501] I obtained a very interesting confirmation of this story from an aged cailliach when in the islands. She told me that a family of Campbells, who lived near Loch Eynort or Loch Skipport, had rowed the Prince and Neil MacEachain to Benbecula, and that the Prince was furiously angry with them; but her explanation of his anger was that the boatmen were Campbells, a name not beloved in the Outer Hebrides: no one had ever thought of the terrifying effect of a tidal island on a stranger. Cf. R. L. Stevenson’s Kidnapped, ch. xiv.

[502] A tenant who takes stock from the landlord and shares with him in the increase.

[503] Clanranald’s residence in Benbecula.

[504] A hill named Rueval, 400 feet above sea level, the only high ground on a very flat island. A projecting rock, on the south side of the hill, which gives considerable shelter and affords a wonderful view of the country, is probably the spot where the Prince lay waiting for Flora.

[505] John Campbell of Mamore; b. about 1693; d. 1770; suc. as Duke of Argyll on the death of his cousin, the 3rd duke, in 1761. He had command of the troops in the west of Scotland in 1745, with headquarters at Dumbarton. He pursued Prince Charles through the islands, hunting for him as far away as St. Kilda. He was on his way back from that island when he nearly captured the Prince at Benbecula. Many of the Jacobite prisoners passed through his hands, and, as a rule, he was kind to them, contrasting favourably with such men as Scott and Ferguson.

[506] Spelt Loch Uskavagh in the Ordnance Survey.

[507] i.e. Neil MacEachain.

[508] The home of Sir Alexander of Sleat at this time was Monkstat House (also spelt Mongstat, Mougstot and other variations), in the parish of Kilmuir, Trotternish. It was built on the site of an ancient monastic foundation near the shores of a lake named Columbkill, since then drained and parcelled into crofts. The ancient home of the family was Duntulm Castle, about five miles north of Monkstat, but during the troubles of the Revolution it is said to have been burnt by a party landed from a warship. Local legendary lore gives various other versions of the reason for abandoning Duntulm. By one account the family was driven from the castle by the ghost of Donald Gorm, a sixteenth-century ancestor. By another, it was owing to the death of a child of the family, who was killed by a fall from a window of the castle, which is built on the edge of a precipitous rock overhanging the sea. Monkstat was built in its stead.

[509] Alexander Macdonald of Kingsburgh, a senior cadet of the Sleat family, was the 6th in descent from James, a younger son of Donald Gruamach, 6th in descent from John, Lord of the Isles and the Princess Margaret. Kingsburgh was Sir Alexander’s factor in 1746. His house was on Loch Snizort, about eight miles south of Monkstat.

[510] The garrison belonged to the Macleod Militia, and the officer in command was Alexander, son of Donald Macleod of Balmeanach.

[511] Robert Craigie of Glendoick, Perthshire; b. 1685; advocate 1710; Lord Advocate 1742-46; Lord President 1754; d. 1760.

[512] App. 1. Printed in Chiefs of Grant, ii. 144. From Edinburgh, telling of rumours of the Pretender’s eldest son who had sailed from France. Requesting intelligence for government and expressing his belief that Grant will do all in his power to support government.

[513] App. 2. C. of G., ii. 146. Of Grant’s zeal for H. M. and the government he never doubted. First intelligence ridiculously exaggerated, and had delayed military advance, but now Cope will be soon in your neighbourhood which ‘with the assistance of H. M. friends it’s hoped will restore quiet to the country.’

[514] Near Aberfeldy; Cope reached it when marching to the Highlands from Stirling on 23rd Aug. He reached Trinifuir the 24th; Dalnacardoch 25th; Dalwhinny 26th.

[515] App. 3. Mr. Grant to Sir John Cope, dated 25th Aug.—Upon the first Information I had of the Pretender’s son landing in the north west Highlands I came to this part of the Country, and conveened all the Gentlemen of my name, and gave them Directions to prepare as well as they could to keep the Peace of the Country. I and my Friends have had great vengeance denounced against us by those Clans, who are in arms, for the appearance we made for the Government at the Revolution, and in the year 1715. We have been preparing to defend ourselves the best we could; But now all my Fears are dissipate, as I am informed you are marching to attack those Rebells, when I think of your abilitys and experience, no doubt can remain with me, but that the Highlanders will run before you. I wish you from my heart all Success. I have sent the Bearer a cousin of mine who has served several years in the army, to give you all the Information he can, and to assure you of my zeal for the Support of his Majestys Service and Government, I am with esteem, Sir, etc.

[516] This date is wrong; Cope reached Ruthven 27th August; Dalrachny’s (Carrbridge) 28th August; Inverness 29th August. (See Itinerary and authorities there quoted.)

[517] All this is disingenuous and quite anachronic. The Duke of Perth, it is true, had fled from Drummond Castle on 24th July, and taken refuge in Braemar, but he had left long before this, for he was back at Machany in Perthshire on 9th August. (Jac. Lairds of Gask, pp. 103, 104.) Cluny Macpherson at this time had declared openly for government, had accepted a commission as captain in Lord Loudoun’s Highland regiment, and was now actually raising his men for King George. He was seized by Lochiel on 28th August, carried prisoner to Perth, and not released until the 9th or 10th September, when he undertook to join the Prince. He returned to Badenoch, and not until then raised his men for the Stuart Cause. The Mackintoshes at this time were arming for King George, under their chief, who was a captain in the Highland regiment (Black Watch); it was not until considerably later that they deserted their chief to join Prince Charles under Lady Mackintosh.

[518] Alexander Brodie of Brodie, Morayshire; M.P. Inverness Burghs; appointed Lyon-King-of-Arms 1727; d. 1754. His daughter married John, eldest son of Macleod of the ’45.

[519] App. 4. C. of G., ii. 149. A letter of indignant remonstrance. Cope cannot attack highlanders in their passes or strongholds without highlanders to flank the regular troops. If the king’s highland friends fail him we are undone, and all of us must be at the mercy of the rebels. The writer is told that Grant’s people refuse to join him (Grant) if he joins Cope or marches out of his own country. Let him beware of counsels that will lead to his ruin. Grant should not give himself the airs of having a clan that can support and serve the government if when it comes to the push they tell him they won’t go along with him. Grant had written to Cope expressing his readiness to join and assist him, but he would neither join him nor assist him with one man, nor go near him, although Cope stopped at Aviemore and spent the night at Dalrachny’s (Carrbridge) within ten miles of Grant. Rose of Kilravock, Lord Moray, General Cope and President Forbes are all disappointed with him. Grant’s uncle, the major (governor of Fort George, Inverness Castle) is very angry. It would have been far better if Grant had given no assurances if he were not sure he could fulfil them. The writer is distressed about what people are saying of Grant at Inverness. How glorious it would have been if he had been the first man in the country to join the king’s forces. The President has got two hundred stand of arms for the laird of Mackintosh, who is to join Cope with two hundred men. Munro, Mackays, Sutherland, Seaforth and others are raising their men for government. The writer is to meet Cope and President Forbes on Tuesday (3rd September), what is he to say of or for Grant at that interview?

A separate piece of paper contains this rider, ‘I would not have been so strong if it had not been with a design, that you might show it to those of your own people that I am told are not for leaving your own countrey; so hope you’ll forgive any strong expressions, as my meaning is to serve you.’

[520] Ludovick Grant’s uncle.

[521] App. 5. C. of G., ii. 152. Duke of Gordon claims a right to the superiority over Morange, and Glenbucket (the Duke’s former commissioner) was threatening the people if they did not join him.

[522] App. 6. C. of G., ii. 155. Grant’s situation had made it absolutely impossible to wait on Cope when in his neighbourhood; tells of Glenbucket’s movements; also that very few have joined the Pretender’s son north of Badenoch; Glenbucket only got 130 men from Strathdoune (Strathavon) and Glenlivet.

[523] James Ogilvy, eldest son of the 5th Earl of Findlater and 2nd Earl of Seafield; b. 1715; suc. as 6th Earl 1764; d. 1770. He was a brother-in-law of Lord George Murray, being married to his step-sister Lady Mary. He was also brother-in-law to Ludovick Grant, who married (1735) Deskford’s sister, Lady Margaret, a union which two generations later (1811) brought the Earldom of Seafield (but not of Findlater) to the Grant family.

[524] App. 7. C. of G., ii. 160. Protests against the granting of one company only, but Lord Deskford has explained and he acquiesces; he names as officers for the independent company—Capt., Grant of Rothiemurchus; Lieut., Robert Grant, son of Easter Duthill; Ensign, William Grant, yr., of Dellachapple.

[525] App. 8. C. of G., ii. 160. (From Culloden.)

[526] App. 9. C. of G., ii. 162. (From Culloden.)

[527] The Macphersons under Cluny joined the Prince at Edinburgh (nine or ten marches distant) on 31st October. The Mackintoshes joined the reserves at Perth (five marches) on 30th October.

[528] Accidentally shot at Falkirk the day after the battle.

[529] App. 10. Angus MacDonell, second son to Glengerry, to the Baillie of Urquhart, dated Delchannie, 30th Sept.—This serves to give you notice, that I am this far on my way to Glengerry, and being clad with the Princes orders to burn and harrass all People that does not immediately join the Standart and as I have particular orders to raise your Country, I do by these begg the Favour of you on receipt of this to have at least 100 men ready in 5 days after receipt of this to join my Standart at Invergarry, and tho contrary to my Inclinations, in case of not due Obedience to this my demand, I shall march to your Country with the Gentlemen here in Company, Keppoch’s Brother and Tirnadrish,[659] etc. and shall put my orders in Execution with all Rigour. And as I have the Greatest Regard for Grant and all his Concerns, I begg you’ll neither give your Country nor me any Trouble, I do not chuse to give, and your ready Compliance with this will much oblige him, who is sincerely, Dr. Sir, your most humble servant.

P.S.—Let me have your answer p bearer, which will determine me how to behave.

App. 11. Mr. Grant to the Gentlemen of Urquhart, dated Castle Grant, 6th Oct.—Auchmony has communicate to me the Subject you have had lately under your deliberation. All the Return I will give you, considering what I formerly wrote to my Chamberlain, and which he communicate to you is this, That whoever among you dont comply with my directions in this present conjuncture, which is to remain peaceable at home, and to be ready to receive my Directions as your Superior, and as Master of my own Estate, must resolve to obey me at your own Peril. And as I have firmly determined that whosoever shall insult me or disturb any part of my Estate shall meet with the Returns such an Insult shall merite. I am hopefull none of my neighbours will act a part by me, which I could not nor cannot allow myself to think them capable of. I cannot conceive the least title any man can have to command any of my vassals or Tenants, but myself, therefore whoever deserts me to follow any other at this Time, I must look upon it as a disobedience to me, which I will never forgive or forget to them and theirs. I am perfectly persuaded all the tenants will adhere and keep firm to me, if they are not led astray by bad advice, which I hope they will not follow.—I am, Gentlemen, your Friend and will continue so, if not your own Fault.

App. 12. The Baillie of Urquhart to Mr. Grant, dated Bellmackaen, 8th Oct.—In obedience to your orders I convened all the Tenents of this Country this day, in order to March them to Strathspey, and there was only 60 or 70 of the Tenents, that agreed to go with me. Dell and I came with all the men that joined us the length of Drumbuie, so far on our way to Strathspey, and Coll MacDonald and all the Gentlemen of this Country came up with us there, and one and all of the Gentlemen but Sheuglie and his son swore publickly to the Tenents, if they did not return immediately or two nights thereafter, that all their Corns would be burnt and destroyed, and all their Cattle carried away. And when the Tenents were so much threatned by the Gentlemen as well as by Mr. MacDonald, they would not follow me one foot further. And upon the Tenents returning Mr. MacDonald assured me, that this Country would be quite safe from any hurt from him and not only so; but as some of the Gentlemen that came north with him, had the same orders as he had to destroy this Country, if we did not join them, he sincerely assured me, he would do all he could to prevent these Gentlemen from coming. And if he could not prevail upon them to keep back, that he would run me an Express in a few days to put me on my guard, and acquaint me of their coming; but one thing I assure you of e’er ten days that this Country will be ruined. Lord Lovat has not appointed a day for his marching as yet; for I am told that he has the Meal to make that he carrys along with him for his Men’s subsistance. There is a Report here this day that there is 2000 French landed at Cromarty last Saturday with Prince Charles Brother. You’ll please let me have your advice how to behave; for I am in a very bad situation. Please excuse this confused Letter, being in haste and ever am, Honourable sir, Your most faithfull hubl sert.

P. Auchmony[660] did not act a right part.

App. 13. Mr. Grant to the Chamberlain of Urquhart, dated Castle Grant, 10th Oct.—I received yours of the 8th this day about Dinner Time. I am not at all surprised at the Conduct of the Gentlemen of Urquhart; for as they seem determined to disobey my repeated Orders, they want to prevail with my Tenents to do so likeways. However now that they must have heard, that General Legonier with at least 18,000 of our troops that have come from Flanders and the Dutch, and that there is 12,000 Danes, and the Remainder of the British Troops dayly expected, and that nobody even at Edinburgh pretended to say, that the French can spare any of their troops, I fancy they will soon see their Folly, and they must be satisfied in a little Time, I will make them repent their Conduct, and they will see the numbers they believed would join the Rebells, dwindle to a very few, if any at all. Whenever you hear any Motions among your neighbours make the best of your way for this Place and see to bring these men with you, who were coming last day and as many more as you can, and assure them I will see what Losses they sustain repaid. And shall do all in my power afterwards to save them when others must fly the country. Dont let any of the Gentlemen know the day you design to march over with the men, other ways they might bring a Possy to stop you, which will not be in their Power if you be upon your Guard. I think you ought to have Spyes in the neighbouring Countries. See that you get money from the Tenents, who are due, that we may clear when you come over.

[530] App. 14. C. of G., ii. 170. (From Inverness.) Claims Grant as a relation and friend whom he finds, with great satisfaction, acting so distinguished a part. The king has appointed Loudoun to command the troops in this country; it gives him the greatest pleasure to know that he has so powerful and faithful a friend to support him in time of need.

[531] App. 15. C. of G., ii. 171. (From Culloden.) Urging Grant to press forward his company; any expense after his men are brought together shall be made good. Believes that ‘the thing will blow over without much harm,’ but Grant should have his eye on as many of his people as he can arm, to be ready for any emergency; ‘ways and means shall be fallen on to subsist them.’

[532] App. 16. C. of G., ii. 175. Mr. Grant’s heart is full of zeal for the preservation of our religion and liberties, and will exert himself to do everything in his power for H. M. service, and is perfectly happy ‘that we who are the friends of government’ have Loudoun to advise and direct us. The delay in his company’s joining Loudoun is caused by all his clan vassals being ready, and he wishes the company to be all volunteers. He foresees that there will be occasion to convene all his men and he wants Rothiemurchus with him, and asks for certain alterations in the commissions to his officers. All the men of his company will have swords and most of them pistols and dirks. Hopes to capture Capt. Gordon, who is levying cess on his party as their arms will be useful. He is determined to let none of the clans now in motion enter his county.

[533] App. 17. John Grant in Urquhart to Mr. Grant, dated 21st Oct.—The MacDonalds and Glenmoristones came into this Country Saturdays night late, and Sundays morning. And this day we expected the Master of Lovat with 200 men to join the MacDonalds, who were in number six score, in order to spreath [ravage] the Country, if the whole people did not join them. The countrymen were all acquainted to meet this day at Milntown, but few of them attended. And as the Master did not come this day, as he appointed, sent word that he would be here tomorrow morning, so that I am made to understand, that they design to raise all their Cattle, and by that method are of opinion, that the men will come present, and condescend to march directly to the army before their Effects are carried off, but I made the Bearer, who is the only one I could trust in, advise the People to keep at a distance and allow them to carry off their cattle, as I assured them that you would repay them in what damage they might suffer that way. I cannot acquaint you at this Time of the Gentlemens Disposition, but tomorrow I shall send an Express, and give you a full account of our Fate. Belintombs house was attacked; but I procured a party from the Colonel to guard it this night. Is all on haste but that I remain as becometh, Honble Sir your most ob. humble servant.

I am informed they design to march by Inverlaidnan. Barrisdale came this day from the north to this country; but did not bring any men alongst with him.

App. 18. John Grant in Urquhart to Mr. Grant, dated 22nd Oct.—The most of the Countrymen met this day at Bellymore where Barrisdale came with a Commission from his Colonel to them, assuring if they did not join him, that he was fully resolved to spreath the whole Country. They all unanimously replyed that in any Event, they would not disobey their masters orders and his positive commands to them to sit peaceable at home, and swore that while there was a drop of Blood in their Bodys, they would not allow the Macdonalds to carry off their Cattle. In a short Time thereafter the Master of Lovat accompanied with all the Stratherrick Gentlemen came to Milntown, and after a long Conference with Mr. MacDonald of Barrisdale, he agreed that the MacDonalds in the Country might be compelled to join the Colonel, as he was not in readiness to march his men this week, but in the Event that this did not satisfy Mr. MacDonald, he was to come in person with 200 men tomorrow, to prevent their carrying off the Cattle, and secure the rest of the men for his own use, as he believed he had a better Title to them than any MacDonald in life. As they could not agree upon the above terms, Barrisdale went with the Master to Castle Downie to know my Lord’s sentiments, and act accordingly. As this happens to be the case we are as yet uncertain of our Fate, but shall to the outmost of our Power, resist the MacDonalds if not assisted by the Frasers Is all but that I remain as becometh, Honourable Sir, Your most obedt humble servt.

[534] App. 19. C. of G., ii. 179. (From Culloden.) A letter to Lord Deskford from the Lord President countersigned by Lord Loudoun. In addition to what Grant quotes, they cannot understand the unaccountable folly of his people that they deliberate in entering the company and hope that they may be persuaded to form it forthwith.

[535] App. 20. Lord Lewis Gordon to Mr. Grant, dated St. Bridget,[661] 3rd Nov.—I take this opportunity to assure you of the Esteem and Regard I have for yourself and all your Family, and that I shall be always glad to do all in my Power to maintain the good Correspondence that has so long subsisted between the Familys of Grant and Gordon. And as you are very sensible of the Situation of Scotland at present, I shall take this occasion of delivering you the Prince Regents Complements, and how much he would be obliged to you for your aid at this important Time; and if you dont appear active yourself, that you would not oppose the rising of your Clan, which is so capable of Serving the King and Country. I hope you will be so good, as to consider this seriously, and to excuse this Liberty from a Friend, who does it with a pure Intention of Serving his Country. I begg my Complements to Lady Margaret and all your Family, as also to Lord and Lady Findlater and Lord Deskfoord, to whom please tell, that what I am to do for the Princes Cause in Banffshire, shall be executed in the mildest and easiest manner in my Power. Glenbucket will deliver this to you, and believe me to be, Dr. Sir, with great Sincerity Your most affectionate ffriend and Servant.

[536] This was the ancestral home of the family of John Roy Stewart, the Jacobite soldier-poet.

[537] App. 21. C. of G., ii. 184. (From Inverness.) Grant’s company had arrived the previous day, was a very good one, the best clothed Loudoun had seen. Was sorry that Lord Lewis Gordon had risen, but the Duke (of Gordon) had given orders to his people not to join him. Few had done so. If Grant were attacked his own power should make Lord Lewis repent; if not strong enough Loudoun would do what he could for him.

[538] App. 22. C. of G., ii. 183. (From Culloden.)

[539] App. 23. C. of G., ii. 186. (From Castle Grant.)

[540] App. 24. C. of G., ii. 187. (From Inverness.) Lord Loudoun declines to send the company back to Mr. Grant, as he proposes to march through Stratherrick to Fort Augustus.

[541] Thomas Grant of Achoynanie, Keith, afterwards of Arndilly, a cadet of Grant of Grant, best known as the early patron of James Ferguson the astronomer. (Henderson, Life of Ferguson, p. 18.)

[542] Alexander Grant of Tochineal, near Cullen.

[543] App. 25. Lord Lewis Gordon to Thomas Grant of Auchynany, dated Huntly Castle, 6th Dec.—As Lord Lieutenant of the Countys of Aberdeen and Banff, I am to raise a man for each £100 of valued Rent within the same, and where Fractions happen the same is to yield a Man. I hope, therefore, you will be so good as to send to Keith Tuesday next such a number of ablebodied men, as will answer to the Valuation of your estate well cloathed in short cloaths, Plaid, new Shoes, and three pair of hose and accoutred with shoulder belt, gun, pistol and sword. I have appointed a proper officer to attend at Keith the above day for receiving the men. I need not tell a man of your good sense and knowledge the hazard of not complying with the demand. Your Prudence will no doubt direct you to avoid hardships of military execution, wherein you’ll extremely oblige, Sir, your most humble servant.

App. 26. C. of G., ii. 190. Thomas Grant of Auchynanie to Mr. Grant, 11th Dec. (From Arndillie.) Lord Lewis Gordon has only 300 men, and of these only 100 have joined: mostly herds and hire-men from about Strathbogie and unacquainted with the use of arms; many of them are pressed and intend to desert; 100 or 150 of Grant’s men would drive them to the devil, and capture Lord Lewis and his prime minister Abbachy (Gordon of Avochie). Lord Findlater’s tenants and the people of Keith are being ruined by Abbachy and look to Grant as their only saviour. If Lord Loudoun would take possession of old Balveny Castle it would spoil Lord Lewis’s recruiting.

App. 27. Lord Findlater’s Steward[542] to his Lordship, dated 11th Dec.—I had a Letter from John Saunders in Keith upon Sabbath day night, informing me that there had 60 of Lord Lewis men come to that place upon Saturdays night, under command of one White and that he and others in that place much wanted advice what to do. To whom I wrote for Answer, that I had a letter from Lord Lewis Gordon for your Lordship, which I forwarded by Express, was very peremptor, Lord Lewis had given no orders for making the least demand upon your Lordships Estate before its Return, so I expected that none concerned in him, would offer to do it before that Time, yet notwithstanding thereof, I had the inclosed this day from William Taylor, to which I answered that as I sent Lord Lewis Letter to your Lordship per Express, I could neither give answer nor advice to his Letter, but that I expected that none concerned in Lord Lewis would have made any demand of your Lop. Estate before I had your Answer. As likeways that they would have defered compounding the matter untill that Time. David Tulloch[662] is just now at Banff with about 60 or 80 men and as I am told demands no fewer Levies from that Town as 200 men. Birkenbush was here last night, and told me that as it is not in his power to get your Lordships Estate saved in such a way as he would have desired has utterly refused having any Concern in uplifting the Levies from that Bounds, for which I have been very angry at him; but it cannot now help. To appearance Mr. Tulloch or Abbachy will be soon here, and unless your Lordship fall upon some shift for relief to us, we shall suffer extremely.

[544] App. 28. C. of G., ii. 192. (From Castle Grant.)

[545] App. 29. Earl of Findlater to Mr. Grant, dated 13th Dec.—After despatching the short letter I wrote you this morning, which is inclosed, I received the Inclosed from the President. All that I shall say is, that all their Proceedings will not secure our Safety unless a Sufficient right and Trusty Party is left in Banffshire for Lord Lewis’s small partys will stir as soon as they are past, if there is not force enough to suppress them. You know the State of my health makes it impossible for me to attend Lord Loudoun and make things agreeable to him as I would wish. I have writ to Tochineil[663] and John and William Ogilvies Sheriffs deputes to do their duty the best they can in all respects; but I am not without my own Fears that Fear and trembling for after Consequences may make some if not all of them extremely unwilling to act. Perhaps even they may decline it. You know you have full Power in everything that concerns me, to do what you think proper and I have full confidence you will do whatever you think right; but least some thing more formal should be requisite, with regard to the office of Sheriff I hereby give you full Power to act as Sheriff Depute of Banffshire and to employ such substitutes under you as you shall think fitt, for which this shall be to you and them a sufficient warrant and Commission, I always am most affectionately and entirely yours.

P.—My son intends to go down by Forress to wait of Lord Loudoun tomorrow; but as he continues extremely ill off the Cold I am uncertain if he will be really able to go. I begg you will send the Inclosed to Tochineil by some sturdy clever Man because the bearer is feckless and too well known, and may be searched for Letters. It contains orders for Tochineil, John and William Ogilvies to attend my Lord Loudoun. Keep the Presidents letter. Your wife opened the inclosed from Robert Grant.

[546] App. 30. C. of G., ii. 189. (From Culloden.) This letter contains a postscript saying that Lord Loudoun ‘had prevailed with Lord Lovat to come in with him to town [Inverness] to reside at liberty there till the present confusions are over, to deliver up what arms he has, and to sign all proper orders to his clan to remain quiet. Loudoun brings him on with him to-day 11th [Dec.] 9 a clock in the morning.’

[547] Boat o’ Bridge, the ferry on the Spey near the mouth of the Mulben burn, now superseded by a road and a railway bridge.

[548] Sir Harry Innes of Innes (Morayshire), 5th bart. Suc. 1721; d. 1762. He was a brother-in-law of Ludovick Grant, married to his sister Anne. Innes’s son James suc. as Duke of Roxburghe on the death of the 4th duke in 1805.

[549] App. 31. C. of G., ii. 193. (From Elgin.) Macleod will most cheerfully act in conjunction with Grant in everything thought proper.

[550] Bog, the local name for the site of Gordon Castle, built on the Bog o’ Gight (windy bog). The ferry there was known as the Boat o’ Bog; it is now superseded by Fochabers Bridge.

[551] App. 32. Mr. Grant to M‘Leod, dated 15th Dec.—I have just now the Pleasure of yours by our Friend Sir Harry Innes. I shall as soon as I get my Men conveened march to Fochabers and endeavour to get Possession of the Boats, and shall do all in my Power to secure the passage for the Men under your Command. I am hopefull the Rebells wont be able to give much disturbance.

[552] App. 33. Lord Lewis Gordon to Mr. Grant, dated Fyvie, 16th Dec.—I was a little surprised this morning to hear that you had marched a body of your Men to the low Country so far as Mulben. Your Reason for such Proceedings I cant find out, as you have not got the least disturbance from the Prince, or any of his Friends, since his Royal Highness arrival in Scotland. And for my part I have not given you the least disturbance, since my coming to the North. So far from it, that I have given positive orders to the Gentlemen employed by me to raise the Levies, not to meddle with any of your Estate no not so much as to raise a man from a little Place called Delnaboe, which holds of the Duke of Gordon, to the men of which last place, I had a natural Title. I now desire to know, if you are to take any Concern in protecting the Estates of any but your own. If that is the case, I must take my Measures accordingly, and as the Consequence must be fatal you have none to blame but yourself. I am this minute writing to Lord John Drummond that he may march his Troops directly to this Country to join the men I have already raised; but if you withdraw your men, and give no further disturbance, it may move me to alter my Resolutions with respect to you. I wrote you a Letter from Strathdoune but was not favoured with any Return, but must insist on an answer to this in writing or by some Gentleman of Character. Offer my Complements to Lady Margaret and your young Family.—I am with much Respect, etc.

Copy Printed Declaration of Lord John Drummond, Commander-in-Chief of his Most Christian Majesty’s Forces in Scotland.—We, Lord John Drummond, Commander-in-Chief of his most Christian Majesty’s Forces in Scotland, do hereby declare, that we are come to this kingdom with written orders to make war against the King of England, Elector of Hannover, and all his adherents, and that the positive orders we have from his most Christian Majesty are to attack all his ennemys in this Kingdom, whom he has declared to be those, who will not immediately join or assist as far as will ly in their power, the Prince of Wales, Regent of Scotland his Ally, and whom he is resolved with the concurrence of the King of Spain to support in the taking possession of Scotland, England and Ireland, if necessary at the expence of all the men and money he is master of, to which three Kingdoms the Family of Stewart have so just and indisputable a title. And his most Christian Majesty’s positive orders are, that his ennemys should be used in this Kingdom in proportion to the harm they do, or intend to his Royal Highness’s cause. Given at Montrose, the 2nd day of December 1745 years.

J. Drummond.

Copy Printed Letter from Earl Marshall to Lord John Drummond, dated Paris, 1st Nov.My Lord,—As I am now obliged to attend the Duke of York to England, with a body of French Troops, I desire that you will be so good as to see if possible, or send word to the people that depend on me or have any regard for me in Aberdeenshire, or the Mearns, that are not with the Prince, that I expect they will immediately rise in arms, and make the best figure they can in this affair, which cannot now fail to succeed, and that they will take from you, my Cousin German directions, as to the manner they are to behave on this occasion.

I am sorry that just now it is not in my power to head them myself; but as soon as this affair will be over, I intend to go down to my native country and they may depend of my being always ready to do them what service will ly in my power.

Marshal.[664]

Directed to Lord John Drummond, Brigadier of the King’s Army and Colonel of the Royal Scots at Dunkirk.

Copy Printed Letter from Lord John Drummond to William Moir of Loanmay, Esquire, Aberdeen 11th Dec.Sir,—You will be pleased to communicate the contents of this letter to such gentlemen of your country as are well affected to the Prince Regent, and who retain regard for the Earl Marshall, and assure them that what may be necessary for effectuating the ends proposed shall be heartily supplied by me, and I am, Sir, your most humble servant,

J. Drummond.

Addressed to Willm. Moir of Loanmay, Esq., Deputy Governor of Aberdeen.

[553] App. 34. C. of G., ii. 199. (From Cullen.) Grant’s letter gives him vast joy; Culcairn will be with Grant to-morrow, while Macleod will go to Banff and thence to Turriff and Old Meldrum.

Culcairn to Mr. Grant, dated 17th Dec.—I came here this day with Captain William Macintoshes Company and mine, and have written to the Laird of M‘Leod telling my coming here and Resolution of going tomorrow to Cullen etc. and therefore pray acquaint me how affaires are with you. I wrote also to the Laird of M‘Leod to acquaint me how affaires are with him.—I am, Dr Sir, yours etc.

The following note was inclosed—

All the Information that is known here about the Rebells, who fled Out of Fochabers, is that they all marched to Huntly, and about 6 men as computed abode in Newmilns Sunday night and on Monday followed to Huntly. There is no word yet from Lord Loudon.

[554] App. 35. Declaration published at Strathbogie by Mr. Grant, dated 18th Dec.—Whereas many of his Majesty Subjects have been compelled by Force and Threats to enlist in the Service of the Pretender, whilst there was no Force sufficient to protect them. If any such shall resort to me, and deliver up their arms, I shall signify their dutiful Behaviour in this point, to the end that it may be a motive to obtain their pardon from his Majestys Grace and will endeavour to free all of illegal and treasonable Levies of men and money; but such as presumes to persist in their treasonable Practices and to resist will be treated as Traitors.

[555] App. 36. C. of G., ii. 194. (From Inverness.) Loudoun’s letter after applauding Grant’s zeal is very much the same as Lord Deskford’s letter which follows.

[556] App. 37. Lord Deskfoord to Mr. Grant, dated 14th Dec.—I am now with Lord Loudon and in a conversation with him, I find that he is Sorry he has not Sufficient authority as yet from the Government either to give Pay to any Clan, except when an immediate necessity which cannot be answered by the Troops upon the establishment requires it, nor has he any arms to dispose of to the Friends of the Government, scarcely having sufficient arms here for the independent companies and his own Regiment. This being the Case and the Service in the Countrys of Banff and Aberdeenshire being sufficiently provided for by the 700 men already sent to that Country, it is impossible for him to take your men into Pay, and as your arms are certainly not extremely good, and he cannot give you others, I believe he would be as well pleased, that your People should go back to Strathspey; but he does not care to take it upon him to order them back, as the thing was undertaken without his Commands. If you carry your People home, he wishes you gave M‘Leod Information of it because he must regulate his motions accordingly with the independent Companys. He says he wont fail to represent your Zeal and that of your People, and wishes for the future nothing may be undertaken but in concert with those who have the Direction of the Kings affaires in this Country. Pray let us hear what you do. Loudon who is much your Friend assures me of another Thing which is that the first opportunity that offers of employing any People in a way to make them make a figure he will most certainly throw it into your hands. I hear there are more Troops to march eastward tomorrow. When Lord Loudon sets out himself is not certain.—I am, Dear Sir, etc.

As the Governor commands here in Lord Loudons absence My Lord says he will chuse to leave the Grants here with him, that he may have one Company that he may entirely depend upon.

[557] App. 38. C. of G., ii. 201. (From Huntly.) Grant writes he has a letter from Loudoun intimating he should not have marched further than Keith, and he will return there next day. Culcairn and Mackintosh want to join Macleod at Inverurie to-morrow night.

An enclosure contains the following lines, which naturally were not sent up to Government, and are not in the Record Office. They are taken from The Chiefs of Grant:—

‘Lord Loudoun will not act as Cope,
Whose ribbon now is call’d a rope;
If Grant is armed to join M‘Leod
The enemy is soon subdued.’

[558] App. 39. C. of G., ii. 200. (From Banff.) Macleod very sorry that Grant is not to join him at Inverurie, but he knows best what Loudoun has directed.

[559] App. 40. C. of G., ii. 202. (From Castle Grant.)

[560] App. 41. C. of G., ii. 205. (From Elgin.)

[561] For a detailed account of the action at Inverurie on 23rd December, see ante, p. 140 et seq.

[562] App. 42. Mr. Grant to the Magistrates of Elgin, dated 29th Dec., in answer to their Letter following.—I received your Letter of yesterdays date signed by you and the Magistrates of Elgin, informing me that Macleod and his men were then marching from your Town towards Inverness and that you are now exposed to the same oppression with the other Burghs to the East. As you had Intelligence that there are 500 men ready at Strathbogie to come over, who have sworn heavy vengeance against you. How far it may be in my Power to give them a check, and to prevent the oppression they threaten you with, I dare not positively say; but I assure you, I have all the Inclinations in the world to be of as much Service to my Friends and neighbours during these troublesome Times as I possibly can. Upon the 10th of this month I was informed that the Party under Abbachys Command was levying the Cess and raising men in a most oppressive manner in Banffshire, and that they were to detach a large Party to your Town, and were threatning to use the same acts of violence against you. As at that Time I knew nothing of the Relief that was acoming to you from Inverness. I conveened upon the 12th the most of the Gentlemen of the Country and about 500 of the men, and marched directly to Mulben with an Intention to cover your Town and Country, and to assist my Friends and neighbours in the County of Banff. All this I did without any advice or Concert with those entrusted at Inverness, only the very day I marched from this, I wrote and acquainted them of my Intention; but as they imagined they had sent Force sufficient to clear all betwixt them and Aberdeen, I found it was not expected that I should proceed further than Keith or my own Estate of Mulben; however as I was resolved to chase the Rebells out of Banffshire, if in my Power I proceeded to Strathbogg where I remained two nights, and then finding that I was not desired or encouraged to go further, I returned home, leaving a party of 60 men, with officers in Mulben to prevent any small partys of the Rebells either from visiting you or oppressing that neighbourhood. My Party continued there till all the M‘Leods had passed in their way to Elgin; but then the officers there thought it was not proper for so small a body to remain longer, when Such numbers of the Rebells were so near them. My present opinion is that you may all be easy, unless you hear that a much greater body come from Aberdeen to join that at Strathbogie for these at Strathbogie will never venture to cross Spey, when I am above them and Lord Loudon is so near them. Altho the MacLeods have marched to Inverness, I am persuaded Lord Loudon will send another body sufficient to give a check to those at Strathbogie. In the situation I am at present in I am uncertain whether I am to be attacked from Perth or by those at Aberdeen and Strathbogie for my late March. I dare not promise to march with any body of Men but in Concert and with Lord Loudons Directions. And at the same Time I have demanded to be assisted with arms, and encouraged to keep my Men in the proper way. There is no body can wish the Peace and happiness of my Friends in the Town of Elgin than I do. And I shall always be ready to use my best Endeavours towards preserving the Tranquility you at present enjoy.—I am, etc.

The Magistrates of Elgins Letter to Mr. Grant, dated December 28th, 1745.—The Laird of M‘Leod and his Men are this moment marching from this Place towards Inverness, so that we are left exposed to the like Ravage and oppression which other Burghs and Counties to the East of us labour under. And unless we be immediately favoured with your Protection, we and many others of the principal Inhabitants must remove with our best effects to some Place of Safety without loss of Time. By Intelligence we have from the other side of Spey there are 500 at Strathbogie ready to come over and who have threatned a heavy vengeance upon us, so that we have all the Reason in the World to guard against the Blow in some shape or other. We therefore begg you may give us a positive and Speedy Answer. And we are respectfully, Honble Sir, Your most humble Servants.

[563] App. 43. Sir Harry Innes to Mr. Grant, dated 28th Dec.—The desertion among all the Companys has been so great that M‘Leod is resolved to march to Forress, and for ought I know to Inverness. This will lay this Town and Country open to the Insults of the Rebells. Therefore the Magistrates have writ you and have desired me to do the same, desiring you may march Such a body of your Men here as will secure the Peace of the Country and Town; but as you are best Judge of this.—I am, Dr Sir, etc.

P.S.—We had yesterday the accounts of the Highland Armys being totally routed and dispersed betwixt Manchester and Preston betwixt the 13th and 14th. The Prince as he is called flying in great haste with about 100 horse. The Duke of Perth amongst the Prisoners. If M‘Leod marches I must with him or go to you, but I think I shall go to Inverness for I am not liked at present by many.

Sir Harry Innes to Mr. Grant, dated 28th Dec., probably from Innes House.—I wrote you this forenoon from Elgin, which I suppose would or will be delivered to you by one of the Council of Elgin. As M‘Leod was then resolved upon Marching here, they were determined to apply to you for some Relief and Support for their Town and Country in General. I have and must do M‘Leod Justice. He is far from loading you with any share of their late unlucky disaster, and would willingly act in Concert with you for the Common well, but to his great Surprise when he came here, he found that his men who had deserted in place of going to Inverness had mostly past from Findorn to the Ross side. So he does not know when or where they may meet. This has hindered him from writing to you to desire you to bring your men to Elgin in order to act with his. Altho he had desired this from no other authority, or any Reasons, but your doing the best for the common Cause, but this unlucky passing of his men at Findorn has prevented his writing as he told the Provost of Elgin he was to do. For these Reasons I run you this Express that you may think how to act. I go to Lord Loudon and the President tomorrow, and will return to M‘Leod Monday forenoon.—My Complements, etc.

P.—The President writ me that Lord Deskfoord is gone for London in the Hound and that they sailed the 25th.

[564] App. 44. C. of G., ii. 208. (From Inverness.)

[565] App. 45. Mr. Grant to Lord Loudon, dated the 9th Jany 1745-6.—Inclosed your Lordship has a letter I received this day from John Grant Chamberlain of Urquhart. The subject contained in it gives me the greatest uneasiness. I thought I had taken such measures as to prevent any of the Gentlemen or Tenants of that country from so much as thinking to favour the Rebells far less to join them. I have sent the Bearer James Grant my Chamberlain of Strathspey, who has several Relations in that Country to concur with John Grant my Chamberlain of Urquhart in every Measure that can prevent these unhappy People from pursuing their Intentions of joining the Rebells. And I have ordered him to obey any further Orders or Instructions your Lordship shall give him for that purpose, and I am hopefull I’ll get the better of that mad villain Currymony who is misleading that poor unhappy People.

That I may not weary your Lordship, I’ll leave to him to tell you all that he knows relating to that country. I have just now received the Inclosed from Lord Strechin by Mr. Sime Minister of Longmay: My Lord Strichen did all in his Power to save my Friend Lieutenant Grant from being taken Prisoner, even to the hazard of his own Life. I would gladly march to relieve him as my Lord Strichen suggests in his Letter, but I take it for granted that that Thing is impossible, for I could not march to that Country with any Body of men but the Rebells must have notice of it, and would send my Friend to Aberdeen and so forward to Glames, where the rest of the Prisoners are. I am hopeful the Kinghorn Boat on board of which my Friend came to Fraserburgh is by this time arrived at Inverness, but least it should not, I send your Lordship with the Bearer the two last Newspapers from Edinr, which came by Lieutenant Grant who luckily delivered them with my Letters to Lord Strichen, before he was made Prisoner. And I must refer it to the Bearer to inform your Lorp. of the manner of Mr. Grant’s landing and being taken Prisoner. Mr. Syme who brought me Lord Strichens letter informs that Mr. Grant told that part of the Duke of Cumberland’s horse arrived at Edinburgh Wednesday last. That the Duke of Cumberland arrived at Edinburgh on Thursday last with a great body of horse, and the foot were following. I think it my duty to take notice to your Lop. that the Rebells are exerting themselves in every corner of the North to increase their army. I therefore think it absolutely necessary that all the Friends of the Government should use their outmost efforts to disconcert and disperse them. I had a meeting yesterday with all the Gentlemen of this Country, and I can assure your Lop. we wait only your orders and Directions, and there is nothing in our Power, but we will do upon this important occasion for the Service of our King and Country. I wish it was possible to assist us with some arms, and money to be sure also would be necessary; but give me Leave to assure your Lordship that the last farthing I or any of my Friends have, or what our Credite can procure us, shall be employed in supporting of our men upon any Expedition your Lordship shall direct us to undertake for this glorious Cause we are engaged in. I wish to God your Lordship and the Lord President would think of some measure of conveening the whole body of the Kings Friends in the north together, and I would gladly hope we would form such a body, as would in a great measure disconcert and strike a damp upon the army of the Rebells in the South, and effectually put a stop to any further Junctions they may expect benorth Stirling and at the same Time surely we might prevent their being masters of so much of the North Coast, and also hinder many of the Kings Subjects from being oppressed by the exorbitant sums of money the Rebells are presently levying from them. Complements etc.

[566] App. 46. Lord Loudon to Mr. Grant, dated 16 Jany. 1745-6.—I have had the Honour of two Letters from you since I had an opportunity of writing to you. I think your scheme of relieving the low Country is a very good one; but in the present situation until I have a Return of the Letters I have sent for Instructions, and a little more certainty of the motions of the Rebells, I dare not give them any opportunity of Slipping by the short road over the hills into this Country and of course into possession of the Fort. Whilst I am in the low Country, as soon as Instructions arrive, I shall be sure to acquaint you, and consult with you the most effectual way of doing real Service to our Master and our Country. I begg my Complements etc.

[567] The Prince arrived at Blair Castle 6th February, and left on the 9th.

[568] App. 47. C. of G., ii. 222. (From Inverness.) Giving news of the abandonment of the siege of Stirling Castle by the Jacobites and their retreat to the north. The desertion among them has been very great, and it will take time to re-collect their people before they can hurt us.

[569] App. 48. Intelligence sent to Lord Loudon by Mr. Grant, 9th February 1746.—Last Thursday Mr. Grant sent by a Ministers son not having had time to write, being busied in his own Preparations, Intelligence of the Rebells motions, and what was said by some of their leaders to be their Intention.

Saturday morning he wrote M‘Leod the substance of it with the orders then brought to Badenoch, which as M‘Leod would forward was unnecessary for Mr. Grant to do. Since the above many confirmations of it have arrived but nothing new all this day.

The inclosed is a copy of their Resolutions taken at their Meeting in Badenoch, where Cluny was present and approved of them.

Many of the M‘phersons came home before Cluny and many of them expressed Resolutions not to be further concerned; but how far they will be steady is uncertain.

It is said by pretty good authority, that the Glengerry men after the Interment of Angus MacDonald openly and in a body left the army, and many of the Camerons followed their example. It is certain most of Keppoch’s men were at home some time ago, but people are sent to use their outmost Endeavours to bring all the above back, and influence what more they can, for which purpose it is said they will remain at least two days at Badenoch.

Their Prince was said to be at Cluny last night, but the men remaining with him, and coming through the hills to be only in the Country this night.

A deserter from those coming by the Coast, and who only left them in Angus, says Duke Cumberland was entering Stirling, as last of their army was going out, Confirms the great desertion since the battle, and asserts it continues dayly, also that there is no division coming by Braemar.

The above Deserters and others and Letters say that Clanhatton, Farquharsons, French, Pitsligo, Angus, Mearns and Aberdeenshire People came by the Coast for whom Billets were ordered last Wednesday at Aberdeen, and that some M‘Donalds, M‘Kenzies, Frasers, M‘Leods, Camerons, Stewarts, M‘Phersons, Athole and Drummond men are coming by the Hills.

Some Clatters say they wont disturb Strathspey, and others that it is their formed Plan to march through and disarm it, and join the rest in Murray. The Truth is not yet known. There are some Rumours from the South that part of the Duke’s Army are following briskly by the Coast, and that upon the Rebells leaving Stirling, two Regiments were ordered to embark for Inverness. Mr. Grant and all his Friends have been alert as desired. Many spyes are employed and what is material shall be communicated.

The Bearer will explain Mr. Grants numbers and present distribution of them, with the various Instructions given for the different occurences that may happen. In the general it may be depended upon, that Mr. Grant will act zealously with his whole Power in every shape that shall be judged best, suitable to the hearty Professions he hath all along made, and upon a closer scrutiny finds he could bring furth 5 or 600 more good and trusty men if he had arms, than he can in the present condition. If there are arms to be given the Bearer will concert their Conveyance.

Sunday 8 at night. This moment fresh Intelligence arrived from Rothemurkus as follows. It confirms most of what is above.

They are ignorant in Badenoch of the present root of the army, and conceal their Losses as much as possible, but acknowledge they lost considerably before Stirling, and obliged to leave behind them seven heavy cannon of their own, and part of their Ammunition and Baggage, with all the Cannon and Ammunition taken from the King’s army.

That they have brought north all their Prisoners. The Duke was advanced as far as Perth. Their Prince is to be at Ruthven tomorrow where his Fieldpieces and five, and some say 9 battering Cannon is arrived. Tho they conceal their designs with great secrecy the Prisoner officers conjecture their design is against Inverness. All the men of Strathern are gone home and to meet the Army in its way to Inverness, which is to go through Strathspey, and the Division coming by the Coast to march through Murray. They call these in Badenoch seven Regiments, made up of the people above mentioned.

That many the writer conversed with declared they were sick of the present Business, and wish for a sufficient Force to protect them at home.

One man says he heard their Prince declare he would quarter next Tuesday in the house of Rothemurkus.

Some means are employed to endeavour to increase the desertion and to create some dissention. If they prove effectual the Conclusion will be quicker and easier.

[570] App. 49. C. of G., ii. 225. (From Castle Grant.) A long letter of various items of intelligence.

[571] App. 50. C. of G., ii. 224. (From Inverness.) Though a supply of arms has come it is impossible to send them and men must come for them. He will be glad to consult and co-operate with Grant. He has brought back troops from Forres and needs money: will Grant send him the cess he has collected.

App. 51. C. of G., ii. 223. (From Culloden.) The Aberdeen rebels much discouraged, for the most part separated, and will not easily be brought together again. The Jacobites’ intention is to capture Inverness and force all the neighbourhood into their service. Glengarry’s and Keppoch’s people and the Camerons are almost all gone home, but leaders are sent to fetch them out. All this will give time to the friends of government.

[572] App. 52. C. of G., ii. 232. (From Castle Grant.) A long letter of details of intelligence of the movements of the Jacobite army.

[573] App. 53. Further Intelligence, dated 15th Feb. 1746, Saturday 7 o’clock at night.—Two persons confirm that Letters from Lord Loudon, etc., were stopt at Ruthven. One of them says the Bearer was hanged this morning. Both agree the Bridges on the road to Athole are broke doun, That the Castle of Ruthven was burnt last night, and stables this morning. The Prince to be at Inverlaidnan this night, some of his People in Strathern,[665] the last at Avemore. The Macphersons to march to-morrow all for Inverness. Best Judges call them about 5000. The Campbells were at Blair. The Duke certainly at Perth the 12th. The Hessians certainly landed at Leith. Several Expresses for this are stopt. You know better than we do what is doing in Murray.

[574] Near Carrbridge.

[575] App. 54. Lord Loudon to Mr. Grant, dated Inverness, 15th Feb.—I have been honoured with a Letter from you last night, and another this morning, and I have seen yours to the Governor, all with the Intelligence which you have got for which I am very much obliged to you, and as we have had notice some time I hope if they do come, we shall be able to give them such a Reception as they will not like. I expect to be reinforced with 900 or 1000 men in two days, and every day to grow stronger. I have thought seriously on every method of sending you arms; but do not see as we are threatned with an attack, that I can answer sending such a detachment from hence. A march that must take up 4 days, as well bring the arms safe to you. Consider the Clan hattonn[666] are all come home. The Frasers and the Gentlemen of Badenoch are appointed to intercept them, and if we have any Business it must be over before they return. As to the number you mention, you know how small the number is, I have to give, and how many demands are made on me, and by people who are none of them near so well provided as you are. If you can send down 300 men, I shall endeavour to provide them as well as I can that is the outmost I can do. You are very good as you be advanced to send us constantly what accounts you get, but by all I can learn your accounts magnify their numbers greatly. I beg you will make my Compliment to all ffriends.—I am with real Esteem and Sincerity, Dr. Sir, yours etc.

[576] This date not quite right. The ‘Rout of Moy’ took place on the 17th. Loudoun evacuated Inverness on the 18th, and the Jacobite army reached the town the same day. The castle (Fort George), garrisoned partly by Grant’s company and commanded by his uncle, surrendered to the Prince on February 20th. (Scots Mag., viii. p. 92.)

[577] Sir Everard Fawkener, secretary to the Duke of Cumberland; b. 1684; originally a London mercer and silk merchant; the friend and host of Voltaire in England 1726-29; abandoned commerce for diplomacy; knighted and sent as ambassador to Constantinople 1735; became secretary to the Duke of Cumberland, and served with him in the Flanders campaign; for his services was made joint postmaster-general 1745; accompanied the Duke throughout his campaign in Scotland 1746; d. 1758.

[578] The Duke of Cumberland arrived at Aberdeen on February 27th or 28th.

[579] Not the modern Castle Forbes on the Don, in Keig parish, but the old Castle Forbes at Druminnor, in the parish of Auchindoir and Kearn.

[580] Cumberland crossed the Spey on April 12th.

[581] Fort Augustus surrendered to the Jacobites, March 5th.

[582] Alexander, the father, had died, a prisoner, before 29th July. He died a natural death, but in Glenurquhart it was believed that he was burned to death in a barrel of tar. (Wm. Mackay, Urquhart and Glenmoriston, p. 288.)

[583] Not dated, but must have been written before 29th July, i.e. prior to Sheugly’s death.

[584] Sir Dudley Ryder (1691-1756) was Attorney-General 1737-54; prosecuted the Jacobite prisoners of 1746; appointed Lord Chief-Justice, 1754; cr. Baron Ryder of Harrowby 1756, and died the same year.

[585] Hon. William Murray (1705-92), fourth son of David, 5th Viscount Stormont. He was Solicitor-General 1742-54, and the active prosecutor of Lord Lovat; Attorney-General 1754-56; Lord Chief-Justice 1756-88; created Baron Mansfield 1756, and Earl of Mansfield 1776. His father and eldest brother were denounced as rebels, fined and imprisoned for their conduct in 1715. His brother James (c. 1690-1770) attached himself to the court of the Chevalier de St. George; in 1718 he was plenipotentiary for negotiating the marriage of James. In 1721 he was created (Jacobite) Earl of Dunbar, and he was Secretary of State at the court in Rome, 1727 to 1747; he was dismissed in the latter year at the desire of Prince Charles, who deemed him responsible for the Duke of York’s entering the Church; he retired to Avignon, where he died s.p. in 1770.

Murray’s sisters entertained Prince Charles in the house of their brother, Lord Stormont, at Perth from the 4th to the 10th April 1745.

[586] Solicitor to the Treasury.

[587] This report is printed, post, p. 400.

[588] Alexander Grossett, a captain in Price’s Regiment (14th, now P. of W. O. West Yorkshire). An engraving, dated 14th Jan. 1747, entitled ‘Rebel Gratitude,’ depicts the death of Lord Robert Ker and Captain Grossett at Culloden. About the latter the following legend is engraved on the print: ‘Captain Grosett, Engineer and Aid de Camp to the General.’ The rebel ‘shot Captain Grosett dead with his own pistol which happened accidentally to fall from him as he was on Horseback, under pretence of restoring the same to the Captain.’ Grossett had been aide-de-camp to General Handasyde; he was serving on General Bland’s staff at Culloden, according to family tradition.

[589] Sir John Shaw of Greenock, 3rd bart.; he was a cousin of Grossett’s. I have failed to find his name in any record of officers connected with the customs or excise at this time. His father, whom he succeeded in 1702, had been ‘one of H.M. principal tacksmen for the Customs and Excise,’ a pre-Union appointment, and it is possible that the son succeeded to his father’s office or to some of its perquisites. Sir John was M.P. for Renfrewshire 1708-10; for Clackmannanshire 1722-27; and again for Renfrewshire 1727-34. He married Margaret, d. of Sir Hew Dalrymple of North Berwick 1700, and died 1752.

[590] Letter i. p. 379.

[591] Brigadier-General Thomas Fowke was the officer left by Cope in command of the cavalry stationed at Stirling and Edinburgh when he went on his march to the Highlands. Fowke fled with the cavalry on the approach of the Jacobite army, and joined Cope at Dunbar. He was present, second in command, at Prestonpans. His conduct, along with that of Cope and Colonel Peregrine Lascelles, was investigated by a military court of inquiry, presided over by Field-Marshal Wade in 1746. All were acquitted.

[592] I have failed to find this narrative, but it matters little, as all that Grossett had to say was probably given in his evidence at the trial of Lord Provost Stewart, an account of which was printed in Edinburgh, 1747. It is accessible in public libraries.

[593] See ante, p. 127.

[594] This refers to the capture of Charles Spalding of Whitefield, Strathardle in Atholl, a captain in the Atholl brigade. He was sent from Moffat on 7th November by William, (Jacobite) Duke of Atholl, to Perthshire with despatches, and carried a large number of private letters, which are preserved in the Record Office. He was made prisoner near Kilsyth. There is no mention of Grossett’s presence in the journals of the day, the credit of the capture being given to Brown, the factor of Campbell of Shawfield. (Chron. Atholl and Tullibardine, iii. 86; Scots Mag., vii. 540.) Spalding was tried for his life at Carlisle the following October and acquitted.

[595] The Lord Justice-Clerk had retired to Berwick when the Jacobite army occupied Edinburgh. That army left Edinburgh for good on 1st November, but the Justice-Clerk and the officers of State did not return until the 13th.

[596] Lieut.-Gen. Roger Handasyde superseded Lieut.-Gen. Guest as Commander-in-Chief in Scotland on his arrival in Edinburgh on 14th November, and held that office until December 5th, when he returned to England. Guest again acted as Commander-in-Chief until relieved by Lieut.-General Hawley, who arrived in Edinburgh on 6th January 1746.

The two infantry regiments that accompanied Handasyde were Price’s (14th) and Ligonier’s (48th). They remained at Edinburgh until December, but after the landing at Montrose of Lord John Drummond with the French Auxiliaries (22nd November), it was felt necessary to guard the passage of the Forth with a stronger force, and the Edinburgh garrison was sent to Stirling, Price’s on 6th December and Ligonier’s on the 9th, where they were joined by the Glasgow and the Paisley militia. The cavalry were also sent to the neighbourhood of Stirling, and Edinburgh was left with no defence but some volunteers and afterwards by an Edinburgh regiment enlisted for three months’ service, of which Lord Home was commandant.

[597] Letters ii.-iv. pp. 379-382.

[598] Letter v. p. 383.

[599] Letter viii. p. 385.

[600] Letter ix. p. 386.

[601] Letter x. p. 387.

[602] The Glasgow regiment was then five hundred strong. It was commanded by the Earl of Home, who was also colonel of the Edinburgh regiment. There were about a hundred and sixty men of the Paisley regiment, of which the Earl of Glencairn was colonel. (Scots Mag., viii. 30.)

[603] Grossett’s account gives the erroneous impression that the infantry was moved to Edinburgh on account of its desertion by the cavalry. According to the Caledonian Mercury and the Scots Mag., the cavalry and the main body of the regular infantry came in together by forced marches from Stirling on the morning of the 24th, ‘men and horses extremely fatigued.’ The west country militia arrived later, by ship from Bo’ness, the intention originally being to send them on to one of the East Lothian or Berwickshire ports (see Lord Justice-Clerk’s letter, xvii. p. 390 post). It was decided, however, not to abandon Edinburgh, so the infantry was kept in the town, but ‘all the dragoons were marched eastward’; the text here locates Haddington as their destination.

[604] Letters xii.-xviii. pp. 388, 391.

[605] Letter xiii. p. 388.

[606] The Milford, on 28th November, captured off Montrose the Louis XV., one of Lord John Drummond’s transports; eighteen officers and one hundred and sixty men were made prisoners, and a large quantity of arms and military stores were taken. The prisoners were confined in Edinburgh Castle until 26th December, when they were sent to Berwick.

[607] Letter xix. p. 391.

[608] Henry C. Hawley; b. c. 1679, d. 1757. Served at Almanza, where he was taken prisoner; Sheriffmuir, where he was wounded; Dettingen and Fontenoy; C.-in-C. at Falkirk; commanded the cavalry at Culloden. Execrated by the Jacobites, and detested by his own soldiers, who dubbed him for his cruelty the Lord Chief-Justice and hangman. He arrived in Edinburgh on January 6th, 1746.

[609] In the ‘Narrative’ this sentence begins ‘Mr. Grossett having received certain intelligence which he communicated to Lord Justice Clarke that the rebells....’

[610] The ‘Narrative’ says ‘one hundred.’ This agrees with Maxwell of Kirkconnell ‘not above a hundred,’ but the number was continually increasing.

[611] Lieut.-colonel of Blakeney’s regiment (27th, now the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers).

[612] Letter xx. p. 392.

[613] Letters xxi., xxii. pp. 392, 393.

[614] William Blakeney, an Irishman, born in Co. Limerick 1672; brigadier-general 1741, major-general 1744, and appointed lieut.-governor of Stirling Castle in that year. The office was a sinecure in time of peace. When Cope left Edinburgh for his highland march, Blakeney posted down to Scotland and took command at Stirling Castle on 27th August. When summoned to surrender the Castle to Prince Charles in January, before and again after the battle of Falkirk, he replied that he had always been looked upon as a man of honour and the rebels should find he would die so. His successful defence of Stirling was rewarded by promotion to lieut.-general and the command of Minorca, which he held for ten years. His defence of Minorca in 1756 against an overwhelming French force won the admiration of Europe. For seventy days this old man of eighty-four held out and never went to bed. On capitulation the garrison was allowed to go free. Blakeney received an Irish peerage for his defence of Minorca about the time that Admiral Byng was executed for its abandonment.

[615] John Huske, 1692-1761, colonel of the 23rd (Royal Welsh Fusiliers); was second in command at Falkirk, and commanded the second line at Culloden. Major-general 1743; general 1756. He was second in command to Blakeney at Minorca in 1756.

Huske’s division on their march consisted of four regiments of infantry of the line, and the Glasgow regiment, with Ligonier’s (late Gardiner’s) and Hamilton’s dragoons (now 13th and 14th Hussars).

[616] This is very misleading. Lord George Murray’s scheme was to wait till the Government troops came up, and tempt them over the bridge: when half had crossed he intended to turn and cut them off. Lord Elcho had kept the enemy in sight all the time, and records that the Jacobites retired ‘in such order that the dragoons never offered to attack them’; moreover, before the highlanders ‘had passed the bridge the dragoons, who were in front of the regulars, drew up close by the bridge and very abusive language passed betwixt both sides.’

Even the picturesque touch of the substituted dinner must go. Lord George particularly mentions both in a private letter to his wife and in his historical letter to Hamilton of Bangour that they had dined at Linlithgow, and the journals of the day state that the affair occurred about 4 o’clock. Maxwell of Kirkconnell considers that if the dragoons had been very enterprising they might have cut off Lord George’s rear. (Elcho, Affairs of Scotland, p. 370; Jac. Mem., p. 79; Chron. Ath. and Tullib., iii. 141; Kirkconnell’s Narrative, p. 98.)

[617] This is meant to be an account of the battle of Falkirk.

[618] The Argyllshire highlanders had joined Huske at Falkirk on January 16th, and were present at the battle the following day. Their colonel was John Campbell, younger, of Mamore (1723-1806). In 1745 he was lieut.-colonel of the 54th Regiment, but he commanded the Argyll Highlanders (militia) throughout the Scottish campaign, and was present at Falkirk and Culloden. He succeeded his father (see ante, p. 259) as 5th Duke of Argyll, 1770. He is best known to fame as the husband of the beautiful Elizabeth Gunning, widow of the 6th Duke of Hamilton, and as the host of Dr. Johnson and Boswell at Inverary in 1773.

[619] At Prestonpans (21st September) seventy-seven officers were taken prisoners. Some of these were allowed entire freedom on parole, but a large portion of them had been interned in Perthshire: they were kindly treated, and had given their parole. In December a considerable number had been removed to Glamis Castle, in Forfarshire, and to Cupar, Leslie, Pitfirran, Culross, and St. Andrews in Fife. They were living quietly in these places when about the second week in January their retreats were raided and they ‘were forcibly hurried off by a great number of people in arms and disguised, whom they could not resist, and carried by the same violence to Edinburgh.’ (Scots Mag., viii. 43.) Thirty-one officers arrived at Edinburgh on 19th January, and Grossett was sent next day to recover those mentioned in the text.

[620] The Duke of Cumberland arrived in Edinburgh on 30th January.

[621] Not identified.

[622] Letter xxv. p. 394.

[623] This officer may have been the second major of the 3rd (Scots) Guards, the only regimental officer of the name who held the rank of colonel at this time.

[624] Letter xxviii. p. 395.

[625] Not identified.

[626] Letter xxix. p. 395.

[627] Should be Bligh’s regiment, the 20th, now the Lancashire Fusiliers.

[628] Letter xxx. p. 396.

[629] Letter xxxi. p. 396.

[630] William, 8th earl, suc. 1720. In 1745 he was a captain in the 3rd (Scots) Guards: he served on Cope’s staff at Prestonpans; commanded the Glasgow (volunteer or militia) regiment at Falkirk; was also colonel of the Edinburgh regiment. In 1757 he was appointed Governor of Gibraltar, where he died in 1761, being then a lieut.-general.

[631] Letter xxxiii. p. 398.

[632] This is that Thomas Smith who, in 1728, for an act of consummate audacity acquired vast fame, became for a while the darling of the British nation, and in the Navy received the nickname of ‘Tom of Ten Thousand.’ Although only junior lieut. of H.M.S. Gosport, while in temporary command he forced the French corvette Gironde to lower her topsail as a salute to the British flag when passing out of Plymouth Sound. For this exploit he was summarily dismissed the service on the complaint of the French ambassador, but, according to tradition, was reinstated the following day with the rank of post-captain (see Thackeray’s Roundabout Papers, No. 4, ‘On Some Late Great Victories’). Modern investigation has somewhat qualified the dramatic story of the reinstatement, but not of the initial act. Smith was naval commander-in-chief in Scotland from February 1746 to January 1747 when he became rear-Admiral; in 1757, Admiral of the Blue. He presided at the court-martial which condemned Admiral Byng. He died 1761.

To those interested in Jacobite history his memory should ever be cherished as the benignant guardian, if jailer, of Flora Macdonald. When Flora was first made prisoner in Skye in the second week of July, she was taken on board the ship of the merciless Captain Ferguson (ante, p. 244), in which she was detained for three weeks. Luckily for her, General Campbell was also on board and treated Flora with great kindness. The general handed her over to Commodore Smith, with whom she remained a prisoner until her arrival in London in the middle of November, a period of three and a half months. Home, in his History, says that ‘this most worthy gentleman treated Flora not as a stranger, nor a prisoner, but with the affection of a parent.’ Bishop Forbes tells the same story: he ‘behaved like a father to her, and tendered her many good advices as to her behaviour in her ticklish situation.’ Smith permitted Flora to go ashore in Skye to see her mother. When lying in Leith roads he presented her with a handsome suit of riding clothes and other garments, as well as an outfit for a Highland maid who had hurriedly left Skye to accompany the lady in her captivity.

[633] Guild Hall Relief Fund. See Appendix.

[634] The 8th now The King’s (Royal Liverpool) Regiment.

[635] Apparently meaning ‘notify.’

[636] Eyemouth.

[637] A bylander or bilander is a two-masted ship, rather flat-bottomed, used chiefly in the canals of Holland.

[638] Sic in copy, ‘and vissibly’ is probably a mistake for ‘invisibly.’

[639] Author of Medical Heroes of the ’Forty-five: Glasgow, 1897.

[640] Barclay acted as justice of the peace for Prince Charles, enlisted men, and collected the excise.

[641] Maule was a writer in Stonehaven and procurator-fiscal of Kincardine. He served as an ensign, probably in Lord Ogilvy’s regiment.

[642] Dr. Lawson seems to have been the father of John Lawson, junior, who served in the Jacobite army.

[643] Keeper of a public-house in Stonehaven.

[644] The occasion of this Memorial and the circumstances attending its production will be found fully detailed in chap. vi. of The Last of the Royal Stuarts, by Herbert M. Vaughan: London, 1906.

[645] I am indebted to Miss Nairne, Salisbury, for this translation.

[646] These lists make no pretence to completeness. They are extracted from a manuscript Jacobite army list which I have been compiling for many years. In it I have noted down the name of every gentleman properly authenticated that I have come across when studying the history of the period.

[647] Clanranald, Boisdale, Glengarry, and Bishop Hugh Macdonald did not rise in arms, but were all imprisoned for being concerned in the Rising.

[648] Interesting information on the raising of Fairburn’s men is given by the French envoy, writing to the French Foreign Minister: Lady Mackintosh, he says, ‘a bien été imitée par une autre fort jolie personne de son âge, nommée Barbe Gourdon, femme de Mekensie de Ferbarn, le plus considérable des vassaux et des parens de milord Seaforth. Celle-cy n’a pas banni son mari; mais, malgré luy, elle a vendu ses diamants et sa vaisselle pour lever des hommes. Elle s’en a ramassé cent ciquante des plus braves du païs, qu’elle a joint à ceux de miladi Seaforth, sous la conduite de son beau-frère.’

This ‘beau-frère’ may mean Kenneth, her husband’s brother, or it may mean Barisdale who was married to her husband’s sister. Young Lentron in the List of Persons concerned in the Rebellion is termed a schoolboy. I find no mention of this Barbara Gordon in the Mackenzie clan history.

[649] James Gordon, son of the laird of Glasterum, Banffshire. Born 1664; died 1746; consecrated secretly as Bishop of Nicopolis in partibus, 1706; Vicar-apostolic in Scotland, 1718. Lord John Drummond, Clanranald, and possibly Lady Clanranald (née Macleod) were Roman Catholics.

[650] Frederick of Hesse Cassel was the consort of Ulrica, sister and successor of Charles XII. He was crowned King of Sweden 1720; died 1751. His nephew, Frederick, Prince, afterwards Landgrave, of Hesse, married Princess Anne, daughter of George II., 1740: he brought Hessian troops to Scotland in February 1746.

[651] Alexander Gordon of Auchintoul (Banffshire). Entered the Russian service 1693; married the daughter of his kinsman, Patrick Gordon of Achleuris, the celebrated General of Peter the Great. Was a colonel at the battle of Narva (1700), where he was captured and detained prisoner until Peter’s victory at Pultowa (1709). Rose to be a Russian major-general. Joined Mar’s Rising, 1715, and was made lieutenant-general (October 1715); commander-in-chief (February 1716) of the Jacobite Army on Mar’s leaving Scotland. Was at Bordeaux, and too ill to join the attempt of 1719. Though living in Banffshire in 1745, he felt too old to go ‘out.’ Died 1752. He wrote a History of Peter the Great, published after his death, in Aberdeen, 1755.

[652] Captain Wm. Hay, groom of the bedchamber to the Chevalier.

[653] Robert (Gordon) but for the attainder Viscount of Kenmure; eldest son of William, 6th Viscount, who was executed for his share in the ’15. He was an ardent Jacobite; he died in 1741, aged about thirty, and was succeeded by his brother John, who joined Prince Charles at Holyrood, accepted the command of a troop of horse, but deserted the following day. See Murray’s Memorials, pp. 53, 227.

[654] Not identified; may be Nisbet of Dirleton and Callendar of Craigforth.

[655] French Minister of Finance.

[656] Walter Stapleton, lieut.-col. of Berwick’s regiment; commandant of the Irish picquets and brigadier in the French army; wounded at Culloden and died of his wounds.

[657] Henry Ker of Graden, Teviotdale, heir of an ancient family of moss troopers; b. 1702; served in the Spanish army, 1722-38, when he returned to Scotland; was aide-de-camp to Lord George Murray and titular aide-de-camp to the Prince; the best staff officer the Jacobites possessed. Captured in May in the Braes of Angus; tried for his life, and in vain pleaded his Spanish commission; sentenced to death but reprieved; released in 1748; died a lieut.-col. in the Spanish service 1751. (Leishman, A Son of Knox, p. 20.) Ker wrote an account of the operations in the last two months of the campaign, printed in The Lyon, i. 355.

[658] This statement of Daniel’s is opposed to all reliable evidence, and the note in the Drummond Castle MS. is correct. The desire of his enemies was to throw the blame of the disaster on Lord George Murray. Even the Prince seems to have talked himself into a similar belief (see post, p. 240). The responsibility lay on Prince Charles himself, as is told in the Introduction.

[659] Keppoch’s brother Donald, killed at Culloden. Donald MacDonell of Tirnadrish (or Tiendrish), a cousin of Keppoch; he was the only Jacobite officer taken prisoner at Falkirk. He was executed at Carlisle in October.

[660] Alexander Mackay of Auchmony, who long afterwards married Angusia, d. of Angus Macdonell, Glengarry’s son, referred to on p. 277.

[661] The house of Gordon of Glenbucket at Tomintoul in Strathavon.

[662] See ante, p. 118.

[663] His chamberlain or steward.

[664] For the authenticity of this manifesto, see ante, p. 132.

[665] Generally ‘Strathdearn,’ the valley of the Findhorn.

[666] ‘Clan Chattan,’ the Macphersons, Mackintoshes and Farquharsons; probably here meaning the Macphersons.


[Pg 459]

INDEX

Printed by T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty at the Edinburgh University Press


[Pg 1]

Scottish History Society.

THE EXECUTIVE.

1915-1916.

President.

The Earl of Rosebery, K.G., K.T., LL.D.

Chairman of Council.

Donald Crawford, K.C.

Council.

Corresponding Members of the Council.

Prof. C. H. Firth, LL.D., Oxford; Rev. W. D. Macray, Greenlands, Bloxham, Banbury, Oxon.; Prof. C. Sanford Terry, Aberdeen.

Hon. Treasurer.

J. T. Clark, Crear Villa, 196 Ferry Road, Edinburgh.

Hon. Secretary.

J. Maitland Thomson, LL.D., Advocate, 3 Grosvenor Gardens, Edinburgh.

[Pg 2]

RULES

1. The object of the Society is the discovery and printing, under selected editorship, of unpublished documents illustrative of the civil, religious, and social history of Scotland. The Society will also undertake, in exceptional cases, to issue translations of printed works of a similar nature, which have not hitherto been accessible in English.

2. The number of Members of the Society shall be limited to 400.

3. The affairs of the Society shall be managed by a Council, consisting of a Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary, and twelve elected Members, five to make a quorum. Three of the twelve elected Members shall retire annually by ballot, but they shall be eligible for re-election.

4. The Annual Subscription to the Society shall be One Guinea. The publications of the Society shall not be delivered to any Member whose Subscription is in arrear, and no Member shall be permitted to receive more than one copy of the Society’s publications.

5. The Society will undertake the issue of its own publications, i.e. without the intervention of a publisher or any other paid agent.

6. The Society will issue yearly two octavo volumes of about 320 pages each.

7. An Annual General Meeting of the Society shall be held at the end of October, or at an approximate date to be determined by the Council.

8. Two stated Meetings of the Council shall be held each year, one on the last Tuesday of May, the other on the Tuesday preceding the day upon which the Annual General Meeting shall be held. The Secretary, on the request of three Members of the Council, shall call a special meeting of the Council.

9. Editors shall receive 20 copies of each volume they edit for the Society.

10. The owners of Manuscripts published by the Society will also be presented with a certain number of copies.

11. The Annual Balance-Sheet, Rules, and List of Members shall be printed.

12. No alteration shall be made in these Rules except at a General Meeting of the Society. A fortnight’s notice of any alteration to be proposed shall be given to the Members of the Council.


[Pg 3]

PUBLICATIONS
OF THE
SCOTTISH HISTORY SOCIETY

For the year 1886-1887.

1. Bishop Pococke’s Tours in Scotland, 1747-1760. Edited by D. W. Kemp.

2. Diary and Account Book of William Cunningham of Craigends, 1673-1680. Edited by the Rev. James Dodds, D.D.

For the year 1887-1888.

3. Grameidos libri sex: an heroic poem on the Campaign of 1689, by James Philip of Almerieclose. Translated and edited by the Rev. A. D. Murdoch.

4. The Register of the Kirk-Session of St. Andrews. Part I. 1559-1582. Edited by D. Hay Fleming.

For the year 1888-1889.

5. Diary of the Rev. John Mill, Minister in Shetland, 1740-1803. Edited by Gilbert Goudie.

6. Narrative of Mr. James Nimmo, a Covenanter, 1654-1709. Edited by W. G. Scott-Moncrieff.

7. The Register of the Kirk-Session of St. Andrews. Part II. 1583-1600. Edited by D. Hay Fleming.

For the year 1889-1890.

8. A List of Persons concerned in the Rebellion (1745). With a Preface by the Earl of Rosebery.

Presented to the Society by the Earl of Rosebery.

9. Glamis Papers: The ‘Book of Record,’ a Diary written by Patrick, first Earl of Strathmore, and other documents (1684-89). Edited by A. H. Millar.

10. John Major’s History of Greater Britain (1521). Translated and edited by Archibald Constable.

For the year 1890-1891.

11. The Records of the Commissions of the General Assemblies, 1646-47. Edited by the Rev. Professor Mitchell, D.D., and the Rev. James Christie, D.D.

12. Court-Book of the Barony of Urie, 1604-1747. Edited by the Rev. D. G. Barron.

[Pg 4]

For the year 1891-1892.

13. Memoirs of Sir John Clerk of Penicuik, Baronet. Extracted by himself from his own Journals, 1676-1755. Edited by John M. Gray.

14. Diary of Col. the Hon. John Erskine of Carnock, 1683-1687. Edited by the Rev. Walter Macleod.

For the year 1892-1893.

15. Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, First Volume.—The Library of James vi., 1573-83. Edited by G. F. Warner.—Documents illustrating Catholic Policy, 1596-98. T. G. Law.—Letters of Sir Thomas Hope, 1627-46. Rev. R. Paul.—Civil War Papers, 1643-50. H. F. Morland Simpson.—Lauderdale Correspondence, 1660-77. Right Rev. John Dowden, D.D.—Turnbull’s Diary, 1657-1704. Rev. R. Paul.—Masterton Papers, 1660-1719. V. A. Noël Paton.—Accompt of Expenses in Edinburgh, 1715. A. H. Millar.—Rebellion Papers, 1715 and 1745. H. Paton.

16. Account Book of Sir John Foulis of Ravelston (1671-1707). Edited by the Rev. A. W. Cornelius Hallen.

For the year 1893-1894.

17. Letters and Papers illustrating the Relations between Charles ii. and Scotland in 1650. Edited by Samuel Rawson Gardiner, D.C.L., etc.

18. Scotland and the Commonwealth. Letters and Papers relating to the Military Government of Scotland, Aug. 1651-Dec. 1653. Edited by C. H. Firth, M.A.

For the year 1894-1895.

19. The Jacobite Attempt of 1719. Letters of James, second Duke of Ormonde. Edited by W. K. Dickson.

20, 21. The Lyon in Mourning, or a Collection of Speeches, Letters, Journals, etc., relative to the Affairs of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, by Bishop Forbes. 1746-1775. Edited by Henry Paton. Vols. I. and II.

For the year 1895-1896.

22. The Lyon in Mourning. Vol. III.

23. Itinerary of Prince Charles Edward (Supplement to the Lyon in Mourning). Compiled by W. B. Blaikie.

24. Extracts from the Presbytery Records of Inverness and Dingwall from 1638 to 1688. Edited by William Mackay.

25. Records of the Commissions of the General Assemblies (continued) for the years 1648 and 1649. Edited by the Rev. Professor Mitchell, D.D., and Rev. James Christie, D.D.

[Pg 5]

For the year 1896-1897.

26. Wariston’s Diary and other Papers

Johnston of Wariston’s Diary, 1639. Edited by G. M. Paul.—The Honours of Scotland, 1651-52. C. R. A. Howden.—The Earl of Mar’s Legacies, 1722, 1726. Hon. S. Erskine.—Letters by Mrs. Grant of Laggan. J. R. N. Macphail.

Presented to the Society by Messrs. T. and A. Constable.

27. Memorials of John Murray of Broughton, 1740-1747. Edited by R. Fitzroy Bell.

28. The Compt Buik of David Wedderburne, Merchant of Dundee, 1587-1630. Edited by A. H. Millar.

For the year 1897-1898.

29, 30. The Correspondence of De Montereul and the brothers De Bellièvre, French Ambassadors in England and Scotland, 1645-1648. Edited, with Translation, by J. G. Fotheringham. 2 vols.

For the year 1898-1899.

31. Scotland and the Protectorate. Letters and Papers relating to the Military Government of Scotland, from January 1654 to June 1659. Edited by C. H. Firth, M.A.

32. Papers illustrating the History of the Scots Brigade in the Service of the United Netherlands, 1572-1782. Edited by James Ferguson. Vol. I. 1572-1697.

33, 34. Macfarlane’s Genealogical Collections concerning Families in Scotland; Manuscripts in the Advocates’ Library. 2 vols. Edited by J. T. Clark, Keeper of the Library.

Presented to the Society by the Trustees of the late Sir William Fraser, K.C.B.

For the year 1899-1900.

35. Papers on the Scots Brigade in Holland, 1572-1782. Edited by James Ferguson. Vol. II. 1698-1782.

36. Journal of a Foreign Tour in 1665 and 1666, etc., by Sir John Lauder, Lord Fountainhall. Edited by Donald Crawford.

37. Papal Negotiations with Mary Queen of Scots during her Reign in Scotland. Chiefly from the Vatican Archives. Edited by the Rev. J. Hungerford Pollen, S.J.

For the year 1900-1901.

38. Papers on the Scots Brigade in Holland, 1572-1782. Edited by James Ferguson. Vol. III.

39. The Diary of Andrew Hay of Craignethan, 1659-60. Edited by A. G. Reid, F.S.A.Scot.

For the year 1901-1902.

40. Negotiations for the Union of England and Scotland in 1651-53. Edited by C. Sanford Terry.

41. The Loyall Dissuasive. Written in 1703 by Sir Æneas Macpherson. Edited by the Rev. A. D. Murdoch.

[Pg 6]

For the year 1902-1903.

42. The Chartulary of Lindores, 1195-1479. Edited by the Right Rev. John Dowden, D.D., Bishop of Edinburgh.

43. A Letter from Mary Queen of Scots to the Duke of Guise, Jan. 1562. Reproduced in Facsimile. Edited by the Rev. J. Hungerford Pollen, S.J.

Presented to the Society by the family of the late Mr. Scott, of Halkshill.

44. Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, Second Volume.—The Scottish King’s Household, 14th Century. Edited by Mary Bateson.—The Scottish Nation in the University of Orleans, 1336-1538. John Kirkpatrick, LL.D.—The French Garrison at Dunbar, 1563. Robert S. Rait.—De Antiquitate Religionis apud Scotos, 1594. Henry D. G. Law.—Apology for William Maitland of Lethington, 1610. Andrew Lang.—Letters of Bishop George Græme, 1602-38. L. G. Græme.—A Scottish Journie, 1641. C. H. Firth.—Narratives illustrating the Duke of Hamilton’s Expedition to England, 1648. C. H. Firth.—Burnet-Leighton Papers, 1648-168-. H. C. Foxcroft.—Papers of Robert Erskine, Physician to Peter the Great, 1677-1720. Rev. Robert Paul.—Will of the Duchess of Albany, 1789. A. Francis Steuart.

45. Letters of John Cockburn of Ormistoun to his Gardener, 1727-1743. Edited by James Colville, D.Sc.

For the year 1903-1904.

46. Minute Book of the Managers of the New Mills Cloth Manufactory, 1681-1690. Edited by W. R. Scott.

47. Chronicles of the Frasers; being the Wardlaw Manuscript entitled ‘Polichronicon seu Policratica Temporum, or, the true Genealogy of the Frasers.’ By Master James Fraser. Edited by William Mackay.

48. Proceedings of the Justiciary Court from 1661 to 1678. Vol. I. 1661-1669. Edited by Sheriff Scott-Moncrieff.

For the year 1904-1905.

49. Proceedings of the Justiciary Court from 1661 to 1678. Vol. II. 1669-1678. Edited by Sheriff Scott-Moncrieff.

50. Records of the Baron Court of Stitchill, 1655-1807. Edited by Clement B. Gunn, M.D., Peebles.

51. Macfarlane’s Geographical Collections. Vol. I. Edited by Sir Arthur Mitchell, K.C.B.

For the year 1905-1906.

52, 53. Macfarlane’s Geographical Collections. Vols. II. and III. Edited by Sir Arthur Mitchell, K.C.B.

54. Statuta Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ, 1225-1559. Translated and edited by David Patrick, LL.D.

[Pg 7]

For the year 1906-1907.

55. The House Booke of Accomps, Ochtertyre, 1737-39. Edited by James Colville, D.Sc.

(Oct. 1907.)

56. The Charters of the Abbey of Inchaffray. Edited by W. A. Lindsay, K.C., the Right Rev. Bishop Dowden, D.D., and J. Maitland Thomson, LL.D.

(Feb. 1908.)

57. A Selection of the Forfeited Estates Papers preserved in H.M. General Register House and elsewhere. Edited by A. H. Millar, LL.D.

(Oct. 1909.)

For the year 1907-1908.

58. Records of the Commissions of the General Assemblies (continued), for the years 1650-52. Edited by the Rev. James Christie, D.D.

(Feb. 1909.)

59. Papers relating to the Scots in Poland. Edited by A. Francis Steuart.

(Nov. 1915.)

For the year 1908-1909.

60. Sir Thomas Craig’s De Unione Regnorum Britanniæ Tractatus. Edited, with an English Translation, by C. Sanford Terry.

(Nov. 1909.)

61. Johnston of Wariston’s Memento Quamdiu Vivas, and Diary from 1632 to 1639. Edited by G. M. Paul, LL.D., D.K.S.

(May 1911.)

Second Series.

For the year 1909-1910.

1. The Household Book of Lady Grisell Baillie, 1692-1733. Edited by R. Scott-Moncrieff, W.S.

(Oct. 1911.)

2. Origins of the ’45 and other Narratives. Edited by W. B. Blaikie, LL.D.

(March 1916.)

3. Correspondence of James, fourth Earl of Findlater and first Earl of Seafield, Lord Chancellor of Scotland. Edited by James Grant, M.A., LL.B.

(March 1912.)

For the year 1910-1911.

4. Rentale Sancti Andree; being Chamberlain and Granitar Accounts of the Archbishopric in the time of Cardinal Betoun, 1538-1546. Translated and edited by Robert Kerr Hannay.

(February 1913.)

5. Highland Papers. Vol. I. Edited by J. R. N. Macphail, K.C.

(May 1914.)

For the year 1911-1912.

6. Selections from the Records of the Regality of Melrose. Vol. I. Edited by C. S. Romanes, C.A.

(November 1914.)

7. Records of the Earldom of Orkney. Edited by J. S. Clouston.

(December 1914.)

[Pg 8]

For the year 1912-1913.

8. Selections from the Records of the Regality of Melrose. Vol. II. Edited by C. S. Romanes, C.A.

(January 1915).

9. Selections from the Letter Books of John Steuart, Bailie of Inverness. Edited by William Mackay, LL.D.

(April 1915.)

For the year 1913-1914.

10. Rentale Dunkeldense; being the Accounts of the Chamberlain of the Bishopric of Dunkeld, a.d. 1506-1517. Edited by R. K. Hannay.

(March 1915.)

11. Letters of the Earl of Seafield and Others, illustrative of the History of Scotland during the Reign of Queen Anne. Edited by Professor Hume Brown.

(Nov. 1915.)

For the year 1914-1915.

12. Highland Papers. Vol. II. Edited by J. R. N. Macphail, K.C.

(March 1916.)

(Note.Origins of the ’45, issued for 1909-1910, is issued also for 1914-1915.)

For the year 1915-1916.

13. Selections from the Records of the Regality of Melrose. Vol. III. Edited by C. S. Romanes, C.A.

14. Johnston of Wariston’s Diary. Vol. II. Edited by D. Hay Fleming, LL.D.

In preparation.

Bibliography of Topographical Works relating to Scotland. Compiled by the late Sir Arthur Mitchell, and edited by C. G. Cash.

Records relating to the Scottish Armies from 1638 to 1650. Edited by Professor C. Sanford Terry.

Seafield Correspondence. Vol. II. Edited by Major James Grant.

Register of the Consultations of the Ministers of Edinburgh, and some other Brethren of the Ministry, since the interruption of the Assembly 1653, with other Papers of public concernment. Edited by the Rev. W. Stephen, B.D.

Miscellany of the Scottish History Society. Third Volume.

Charters and Documents relating to the Grey Friars and the Cistercian Nunnery of Haddington.—Register of Inchcolm Monastery. Edited by J. G. Wallace-James, M.B.

Analytical Catalogue of the Wodrow Collection of Manuscripts in the Advocates’ Library. Edited by J. T. Clark.

A Translation of the Historia Abbatum de Kynlos of Ferrerius.

Papers relating to the Rebellions of 1715 and 1745, with other documents from the Municipal Archives of the City of Perth.

The Balcarres Papers.


Transcriber’s Notes

Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.

The Corrigenda and Errata (page vi) have been corrected in place.