towards the bridge which they had erected. The volunteers pursued them closely, and killed several of them, and others were drowned in the river in consequence of the bridge having been broken down by the fugitives. When information was brought to the Marquis de Sell that the Germans were driven out of the island, and that it was in full possession of the Scottish companies, he expressed his gratitude and admiration by making the sign of the cross on his forehead and breast; and declared that these officers had performed the bravest action he had ever witnessed. Next morning he visited the island, and after embracing every officer, he gave them his most hearty thanks for the important service they had performed, and promised that he would send an account of their brave conduct to the French king, who, on receiving the despatches, went to St Germains and thanked King James in person for the eminent service his subjects had performed. The officers remained six weeks on the island, during which General Stirk made several attempts to retake it, but his endeavours were defeated by the vigilance of the officers, and seeing no hopes of being able to cross the Rhine, he abandoned his position, and retired into the interior. In honour of the captors the

island was afterwards named L'Isle d'Ecosse.

Alsace being thus relieved from the presence of an enemy, the company of officers returned to Strasburg to perform garrison duty. The last piece of active service they performed was in attacking and driving from a wood a body of hussars who had crossed the Rhine above Fort Louis. In this affair several of the hussars were killed, and they were forced to recross the Rhine with the loss of some of their horses and baggage. The negotiations at Ryswick, which ended in a general peace, now commenced; and King William having, it is said, made the disbanding of the Scottish officers a sine qua non, the company was broken up at Silistad, after the conclusion of the treaty. Thus ended the history of these extraordinary men, few of whom survived their royal master.

CHAPTER X.

Massacre of Glenco.

THE negotiation set on foot by the earl of Breadalbane with the Highland Jacobite chiefs was broken off by the latter, principally at the instigation of Mackian or Alexander Macdonald of Glenco, between whom and the earl a difference had arisen respecting certain claims which the earl had against Glenco's tenants for plundering his lands, and for which the earl insisted for compensation and retention out of Glenco's share of the money, which he had been intrusted by the government to distribute among the chiefs. The failure of the negotiation was extremely irritating to the earl, who threatened Glenco with his vengeance, and, following up his threat, entered into a correspondence with Secretary Dalrymple, the Master of Stair, between whom it is understood a plan was concerted for cutting off the chief and his people. Whether the "mauling scheme," of the earl, to which Dalrymple alludes in one of his letters, refers to a plan for the extirpation of the tribe, is a question which must ever remain doubtful; but there is reason to believe, that if he did not suggest, he was at least privy to the foul murder of that unfortunate chief and his people, an action which has stamped an infamy upon the government of King William, which nothing can efface.

In common with the other chiefs who had supported the cause of King James, Glenco resolved to avail himself of the indemnity offered by the government, and accordingly proceeded to Fort-William to take the required oaths, where he arrived on the thirty-first day of December, sixteen hundred and ninety-one, being the last day allowed by the proclamation for taking the oaths. He immediately presented himself to Colonel Hill, the Governor of Fort-William, and required him to administer the oath of allegiance to the government; but the Colonel declined to act, on the ground, that under the proclamation, the civil magistrate alone could administer them. Glenco remonstrated with Hill on account of the exigency of the case, as there was not any magistrate whom he could reach before the expiration of that day, but Hill persisted in his resolution. He, however, advised Glenco to proceed instantly to Inverary, and gave him a letter to Sir Colin Campbell of Ardkinlass, sheriff of Argyleshire, begging of him to receive Glenco as a lost sheep," and to administer the necessary oaths to him. Hill. at the same

66

time, gave Glenco a personal protection under his hand, and gave him an assurance that no proceeding should be instituted against him under the proclamation, till he should have an opportunity of laying his case before the King or the privy council.

Glenco left Fort-William immediately, and so great was his anxiety to reach Inverary with as little delay as possible, that although his way lay through mountains almost impassable, and although the country was covered with a deep snow, he proceeded on his journey without even stopping to see his family, though he passed within half a mile of his own house. At Barkaldin he was detained twenty-four hours by Captain Drummond. On arriving at Inverary, Sir Colin Campbell was absent, and he had to wait three days till his return, Sir Colin having been prevented from reaching Inverary sooner, on account of the badness of the weather. As the time allowed by the proclamation for taking the oaths had expired, Sir Colin declined at first to swear Glenco, alleging that it would be of no use to take the oaths; but Glenco having first importuned him with tears to receive from him the oath of allegiance, and having thereafter threatened to protest against the sheriff should he refuse to act, Sir Colin yielded, and administered the oaths to Glenco and his attendants on the sixth of January. Glenco, thereupon, returned home in perfect reliance that having done his utmost to comply with the injunction of the government, he was free from danger.

Three days after the oaths were taken, Sir Colin wrote Hill, acquainting him of what he had done, and that Glenco had undertaken to get all his friends and followers to follow his example; and about the same time he sent the letter which he had received from Hill, and a certificate that Glenco had taken the oath of allegiance to Colin Campbell, sheriff clerk of Argyle, then at Edinburgh, with instructions to lay the same before the privy council, and to inform him whether or not the council received the oath. The paper on which the certificate that Glenco had taken the oaths was written, contained other certificates of oaths which had been administered within the time fixed, but Sir Gilbert Elliot, the clerk of the privy council, refused to receive the certificate relating to Glenco as irregular. Campbell, thereupon, waited upon Lord Aberuchil, a privy councillor, and requested him to take the opinion of some members of the council, who accordingly spoke to Lord Stair and other privy councillors; all of whom gave an opinion that the certificate could not be received without a warrant from the King. Instead, however, of laying the matter before the privy council, or informing Glenco of the rejection of the certificate, that he might petition the King, Campbell perfidiously defaced the certificate, and gave in the paper on which it was written to the clerks of the council.

Whether in thus acting, Campbell was influenced by Secretary Dalrymple, who has obtained an infamous notoriety by the active part which he took in bringing on the massacre of Glenco, it is impossible to say; but it is not improbable that this man-who, a

few weeks before, had exulted that as the winter was the only season in which the Highlanders could not escape, they could easily be destroyed "in the cold long nights"-was not an indifferent spectator to Campbell's proceedings. In fact, it appears that the secretary contemplated the total extirpation of the clans, for, in a letter to Sir Thomas Livingston, dated the seventh of January, he says, "You know in general that these troops posted at Inverness and Inverlochie, will be ordered to take in the house of Innergarie, and to destroy entirely the country of Lochaber, Lochiel's lands, Keppoch's, Glengarie's, and Glenco," and he adds, "I assure you your power shall be full enough, and I hope the soldiers will not trouble the government with prisoners." In another letter to Sir Thomas, written two days thereafter, by which time accounts had reached him that Glenco had taken the oaths, he expresses satisfaction that "the rebels" would not be able to oppose his designs, and as their chieftains were "all papists," he thinks it would be well that vengeance fell upon them. The Macdonalds were chiefly marked out by him for destruction, and after saying that he could have wished that they "had not divided" on the question of taking the oath of indemnity, he expresses his regret to find that Keppoch and Glenco

were safe.

That no time, however, might be lost in enforcing the penalties in the proclamation, now that the time allowed for taking the oath of allegiance had expired, instructions of rather an equivocal nature, signed and countersigned by the King on the eleventh of January, were sent down by young Stair to Sir Thomas Livingston on the same day, inclosed in a letter from the secretary of same date. By the instructions, Livingston was ordered "to march the troops against the rebels who had not taken the benefit of the indemnity, and to destroy them by fire and sword;" but lest such a course might render them desperate, he was allowed to "give terms and quarters, but in this manner only, that chieftains and heritors, or leaders, be prisoners of war, their lives only safe, and all other things in mercy, they taking the oath of allegiance; and the community taking the oath of allegiance, and rendering their arms, and submitting to the government, are to have quarters, and indemnity for their lives and fortunes, and to be protected from the soldiers." As a hint to Livingston how to act under the dis cretionary power with which these instructions vested him, Dalrymple says in his letter containing them, "I have no great kindness to Keppoch nor Glenco, and it is well that people are in mercy, and then just now my Lord Argyle tells me that Glenco hath not taken the oath, at which I rejoice. It is a great work of charity to be exact in rooting out that damnable sect, the worst of the Highlands."

The purport of this letter could not be misunderstood; but lest Livingston might not feel disposed to imbrue his hands in the blood of

*Letters to Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton, &c. 1st and 3d, Dec. 1691.

Glenco and his people, additional instructions bearing the date of sixteenth January, and also signed and countersigned by King William, were despatched to Livingston by the master of Stair, ordering him to extirpate the whole clan. In the letter containing these instructions, Dalrymple informs Livingston that "the king does not at all incline to receive any after the diet but in mercy," but he artfully adds, "but for a just example of vengeance, I entreat the thieving tribe of Glenco may be rooted out to purpose." Lest, however, Livingston might hesitate, a duplicate of these additional instructions was sent at the same time by Secretary Dalrymple to Colonel Hill, the governor of FortWilliam, with a letter of an import similar to that sent to Livingston. From the following extract it would appear that not only the earl of Breadalbane, but also the earl of Argyle, was privy to this infamous transaction. "The earls of Argyle and Breadalbane have promised that they (the Macdonalds of Glenco) shall have no retreat in their bounds, the passes to Rannoch would be secured, and the hazard certified to the laird of Weems to reset them; in that case Argyle's detachment with a party that may be posted in Island Stalker must cut them off."

Preparatory to putting the butchering warrant in execution, a party of Argyle's regiment, to the number of one hundred and twenty men, under the command of Captain Campbell of Glenlyon, was ordered to proceed to Glenco, and take up their quarters there, about the end of January or beginning of February. On approaching the Glen, they were met by John Macdonald the elder son of the chief, at the head of about twenty men, who demanded from Campbell the reason of his coming into a peaceful country with a military force: Glenlyon and two subalterns who were with him explained that they came as

These instructions are as follow:
WILLIAM R.

16th January, 1692.

1. The copy of the paper given by Macdonald of Aughtera to you has been shown us. We did formerly grant passes to Buchan and Cannon, and we do authorize and allow you to grant passes to them, and ten servants to each of them, to come freely and safely to Leith; from that to be transported to the Netherlands before the 15th of March next, to go from thence where they please, without any stop or trouble.

2. We doe allow you to receive the submissions of Glengarry and those with him upon their taking the oath of allegiance and delivering up the house of Invergarry; to be safe as to their ives, but as to their estates to depend upon our mercy.

3. In case you find that the house of Invergarry cannot probably be taken in this season of the year, with the artillery and provision you can bring there; in that case we leave it to your discretion to give Glengarry the assurance of entire indemnity for life and fortune, upon delivering of the house and arms, and taking the oath of allegiance. In this you are to act as you find the circumstances of the affair do require; but it were much better that those who have not taken the benefit of our indemnity, in the terms within the diet prefixt by our proclamation, should be obliged to render upon mercy. The taking the oath of allegiance is indispensable, others having already taken it.

4. If M'Ean of Glenco and that tribe can be well separated from the rest, it will be a proper vindication of the public justice to extirpate that set of thieves. The double of these instructions is only communicated to Sir Thomas Livingston.

W. REX.