66

In the Viscount Dundee, king James lost the only man in Scotland possessed of all the qualifications necessary for conducting to a successful issue the great and important charge which had been committed to him by his sovereign. Educated in the strictest principles of toryism, he could never divest his mind of the abstract ideas of passive obedience and hereditary right, and to him, therefore, any attempt to resist the authority of the sovereign, no matter how far abused, appeared highly treasonable. Hence the unrelenting perseverance with which he hunted down the field conventicles, which made him the terror of the unfortunate Whigs, and earned for him the unfortunate designation of the Bloody Clavers." Though a thorough-paced, and, in some degree, a bigotted Protestant Episcopalian, the heresy of the successor of Charles II. as the religion of James must have appeared to him, in no respect altered his ideas of implicit fidelity to the sovereign, nor did his views undergo any change when the arbitrary and unconstitutional proceedings of James seemed to the leading men of the nation to have solved the great political problem, when resistance should commence and obedience end. In his eyes, therefore, the revolution which drove the unfortunate James from his throne, was a great national sin, which could only be atoned for by restoring to him his crown, an object, in the accomplishment of which, he conceived all good men were bound to lend a helping hand. These ideas ingrafted upon a temperament peculiarly sanguine, made him an enthusiast in favour of hereditary right, and his appointment by the fallen monarch as the chosen one by whose instrumentality his restoration was to be effected, imparted a charm to his enthusiasm which dispelled every difficulty which appeared to obstruct the grand object of his ambition and his hopes. With an inflexibility of purpose, which no temptation could overcome, he steadily pursued the course which the duty he conceived he owed to his sovereign and the natural inclination of his own mind directed him to follow. But Dundee had not merely the will, but what was of no less importance, the ability, had he lived, to have executed the commission entrusted to him. While as a military commander he had few equals, he stood unrivalled among his cotemporaries in the art of gaining the affections of his troops, and communicating to them a full measure of the spirit which animated himself. His death, therefore, was a fatal blow to James's prospects, and with him the cause of the

adherent followed him like his shadow, ready to assist him with his sword, or cover him from the shot of the enemy. Soon after the battle began, the chief missed his friend from his side, and turning round to look what had become of him, saw him lying on his back, with his breast pierced by an arrow. He had hardly breath before he expired to tell Lochiel, that, seeing an enemy, a Highlander in General Mackay's army, aiming at him with a bow and arrow from the rear, he sprung behind him, and thus sheltered him from instant death. This is a species of duty not often practised, perhaps, by an aid-decamp of the present day."- Stewart's Sketches.

BATTLE OF KILLIECRANKIE.

Stuarts may be said to have perished.

171

Dundee and his friend Pitcu

were interred in the church of Blair of Athole.*

• Dr Pitcairn's classical and elegant tribute to the memory of Dundee is well worthy of insertion.

CHAPTER VIII.

Ferment in Edinburgh-Forces ordered to the west-Concentration of troops at Stirling -Advance of Mackay to Perth, who cuts off a party of Athole-men-March of Cannan to the north, followed by Mackay, who enters Aberdeen-Marches to StrathbogieCannan holds a council of war-Return of Cannan to the south-Skirmish at Brechin -Defeat of the Highlanders at Dunkeld by the Cameronians-Capture of the Castles of Blair and Finlarig by Mackay's forces-Plot to restore King James discovered -Arrival of Major-General Buchan from Ireland, who holds a council of warMarches to the north-Skirmish at Cromdale-March of Mackay to InverlochyErection of Fort-William-Movements of Buchan and Cannan in the Lowlands-A part of the Farquharsons cut off by Colonel Cunningham-Return of Mackay to the north-Arrives at Inverness-Retreat of Buchan-The earl of Seaforth imprisoned-Cessation of hostilities-Departure of Dundee's officers for France.

THE news of Mackay's defeat reached Edinburgh on Sunday the twenty-eighth of July, the day after the battle, and threw the partizans of the government, who were there assembled, into the greatest consternation. In the absence of official details, the most gloomy accounts were given by a few terrified stragglers who arrived in the capital, and who believed that, with the exception of themselves, the whole of Mackay's army had been destroyed. In the state of disorder and confusion which prevailed, the duke of Hamilton, the Commissioner to the revolution parliament, summoned a meeting of the privy council in the evening, at which orders were issued to raise all the fencible men in the west, and to concentrate all the forces in the south at Stirling, to which point it was supposed Dundee (of whose death they were not aware) would be rapidly hastening; and on the supposition that Mackay was either killed or made prisoner, Sir John Lanier was ordered west to take the command.

But these precautionary measures did not quiet the alarms of the members of the parliament, some of whom were for retiring immediately into England, and others into the western shires of Scotland. At their entreaty, the duke of Hamilton agreed to adjourn the parliament, on the next or following day, till October; but as such a step might tend to discourage the friends of the government, the parliament, on meeting, adjourned its sittings for two days only. A proposal was made to set at liberty all the state prisoners; but it was negatived after some discussion, and a resolution adopted to confine them still closer than they had yet been, and to prevent all communication between them and their friends. But although they were cut off from the society of their

ADVANCE OF MACKAY TO PERTH.

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friends, they, as Lord Balcarras, himself a prisoner, observes, had never before so many visits from their enemies, who, anticipating another order of things, made many excuses for their past conduct, protested that they had always wished well to the prisoners, and when an opportunity should occur, would give proofs of such disposition.

During two entire days the ferment continued in the capital, and every hour added to the fears of those who had most to dread from a counter-revolution. At length, when the minds of men were wrought up to the highest pitch of terror and dismay, intelligence was received of the death of Dundee, and shortly thereafter a despatch from General Mackay to the duke of Hamilton arrived, giving an account of the battle, and of his safe retreat to Stirling. An event so unlooked for and so important as the death of the only man in whom the hopes of King James rested, and from the decision of whose character the supporters of the revolution settlement anticipated the most fearful consequences, was hailed by the duke of Hamilton and his friends with transports of joy. They had indeed good reason to rejoice, for although the battle had been disastrous to their forces, the loss which King James had sustained in the person of Dundee was irreparable.

On arriving at Stirling Mackay met Sir John Lanier, who communicated to him the orders that had been issued by the government on receiving the news of his defeat. So decisive had the battle of Killiecrankie appeared to them that they had given up all idea of maintaining a position on the north of the Forth, all the country beyond which they meant to abandon to the victorious arms of Dundee, and to confine their operations to a defence of the fords of the Forth, and the pass and bridge of Stirling. In pursuance of this design orders had been sent to Berkeley's regiment, which was quartered in the county of Aberdeen, to retire upon Dundee, and Lanier had despatched an express to his own regiment, which lay partly at Alnwick and partly at Morpeth, to hasten down to Scotland. This plan, however, was disapproved of by Mackay, and, he therefore, as he says, "resolved to alter these measures, (knowing how hard a pull we would have,) of the Scots war, if he left the north, which are absolutely the best men of that kingdom for the war, to the discretion of the enemy, where he would not only get great numbers to join him, but also take possession of towns and seize upon the public revenues, whereby they could form a fashion of government, and so have more plausible ways, not only to maintain but also to engross their party, than ever they have had."*

For these reasons Mackay determined to take the field again without delay, and to give, as he observes, "some eclat to the service, and hinder the disaffected of the shires of Perth and Angus to rise in arms against the government," he resolved to march direct to Perth with the forces which were at hand, and place a garrison there. Fortunately

Memoirs, p. 62.

some of the troops which the privy council had ordered to rendezvous at Stirling were already there, and others were at hand. Preparatory to his march he sent Sir John Lanier to Edinburgh to hasten the advance of his own regiment, consisting of nine troops of horse, and also of Hayford's dragoons, consisting of eight troops, and ordered eight troops of horse, and four of dragoons, both of which had been newly levied, and Lord Colchester's regiment of horse, not above five hundred men in all, to join him at Stirling on the morning of Wednesday, the thirty-first of July. Many thousands of men in the western shires were now assembling of their own accord in consequence of Mackay's defeat; but dis liking such auxiliaries, "whose pretensions (he says) appeared already. exorbitant enough," and who, if employed, might think that the govern ment could not be maintained without their assistance, he intimated that he would not require their services, and ordered them to return to their homes.

The horse and dragoons having come to Stirling as directed, were reviewed in the park in the morning by Mackay. With these he departed for Perth at two o'clock in the afternoon, giving orders to a newly raised battalion of foot, consisting of Mar and Bargeny's regiments, to follow him. He halted at a village halfway between Stirling and Perth part of the night to avoid the risk of an ambuscade, and at break of day pursued his march towards Perth. On his way he could obtain no intelligence respecting the motions of the enemy, as he found the houses mostly deserted by their inhabitants, who had taken up arms and had gone to join the standard of King James. On approaching the river Earn, however, Mackay's scouts, who, to prevent too timeous notice of his approach, kept only a musket-shot in advance. were saluted with a loud " qui vive" by two horsemen. The scouts, four in number, answered this challenge by a discharge from their carabines, which brought down the two horsemen, one of whom was shot dead. The other was mortally wounded, and though he spoke a few words, was not able to answer some questions put to him for eliciting information. As Mackay conjectured from this occurrence, that the main body of the enemy was not far off, he altered his line of march, and crossing a pretty steep hill to the north, reached the field of Tippermoor, a few miles west from Perth.

Having been informed at Tippermoor, that the enemy lay encamped at Dunkeld, and that a party of their horse and foot was in Perth for the purpose of carrying off some meal which had been sent thither by the council for the use of Mackay's army, the general drew off his men to the left to throw himself between Dunkeld and Perth, and thereby cut off the party. When he had thus interposed himself he marched. down upon Perth, but on coming within sight of the town he was disappointed to observe that about thirty of the enemy's horse had already crossed the Tay, and were beyond his reach. He proceeded on his march, and when within half a mile of the town he observed the foot