9 Sept. and then I said, 'O my dear, I have nothing more to say. You have stopt my mouth indeed.' fol. 345. When Ned was talking of seeing the Prince again he spoke these words: 'If the Prince do not come and see me soon, good faith, I will go and see my daughter (Bettie Burk) and crave her. For she has not yet paid her christening money, and as little has she paid the coat I gae her in her greatest need.' ROBERT FORBES, A.M. N.B.-Donald MacLeod is much more to be depended upon than Ned Burk in the account of things, because Ned can neither write nor read, and was near thirty years of age before he could speak one word of English. Ned had a great difficulty to put things together in any tolerable way, as he is one of these honest, low men that are intent for the present upon doing their duty with fidelity without minding anything else. Such honest, plain persons as these allow the world to rub on as it pleases, and never once trouble their heads about making observations and remarks upon the occurrences of life as they pass along. If they jog on from day to day they ask no more, and are very much strangers to the exercises of the memory. Besides, honest, plain, rough Ned had never entertained a notion that any journal or account would ever be asked of him, or else perhaps he would have stored his memory with a more plentiful stock, as he had abundance of materials to work upon. Honest Ned is not (by his own confession) much above forty years of age, and is both stout and sturdy for all he has gone through.1 ROBERT FORBES, A.M. 1 See p. 1706. 1745] DUNCAN CAMERON'S ACCOUNT 201 JOURNAL of the Prince's imbarkation and arrival, fol. 346. etc., the greatest part of which was taken from After the battle of Fontenoy and taking of Tournay, among June. other regiments the one commanded by Lord John Drummond was garrisoned in Tournay, in which corps Duncan Cameron (some time servant to old Lochiel at Boulogne in France) served. When Duncan was in Tournay he received a letter from Mr. Æneas MacDonald, banker in Paris, desiring him forthwith to repair to Amiens, and if possible to post it without sleeping, where he should receive orders about what he was to do. Accordingly Duncan set out, and in a very short time posted to Amiens, from whence Æneas, etc., had set out, but had left a letter for Duncan ordering him to follow them to Nantes, to which place he set out without taking any rest, where he found the Prince and his small retinue, consisting of seven only, besides servants. The seven were the Duke of Athol, Sir Thomas Sheridan, Sir John MacDonald, Colonel Strickland, Captain O'Sullivan, Mr. George Kelly (a nonjurant clergyman), and Æneas MacDonald, banker at Paris, brother to Kinlochmoidart. As Duncan Cameron had been brought up in the island of Barra, and knew the coast of the Long Isle well, in some fol. 347. part of which the Prince intended to land first, so Duncan's business was to descry to them the Long Isle. At Nantes the Prince and his few attendants waited about fifteen days before the Elizabeth ship of war came, which was to be their convoy in the expedition. To cover the design the better, Sir Thomas Sheridan 2 passed for the father, and the Prince for the son, for none knew the Prince to be in company 1 Of this journal there is printed in the Jacobite Memoirs (pp. 1-27), from ff. 348-360, in combination with that of Æneas MacDonald, which occurs at f. 490 et seq. 2 See f. 496. July. but the seven, some few others, and Mr. Welch (an Irishman, a very rich merchant in Nantes), who was to command the frigate of sixteen guns,1 on board of which the Prince and the few faithful friends with the servants were to imbark. After the Prince was on board he dispatched letters to his father, and the King of France, and the King of Spain, advising them of his design, and no doubt desiring assistance. The Prince when in Scotland, used to say that the 10th of June was the day on which he stole off, and that he did not mind it to be his father's birth-day till night was far spent. From whence some have affirmed that to have been the day of the embarkation, and others to have been the day when he left Paris and began to be incog. 9 July. They had not been above five or six days at sea, till one fol. 348. evening the Lyon ship of war appeared, and came pretty near them, and then disappeared. Next morning she came again in view and disappeared. She continued to do so three or four times, and the last time of her appearing she came within a mile or so of them; when the captain of the Elizabeth (a Frenchman) came on board the frigate, and told Mr. Welch if he would assist him by keeping one side of the Lyon in play at a distance, he would immediately put all things in order for the attack. Mr. Welch, well knowing the trust he had on board, answered him civilly, and told him it was what he could not think of doing, and withal remarked to him it was his humble opinion that he should not think of fighting unless he should happen to be attacked, because his business was to be convoy to the frigate in the voyage. However, he said, as he pretended not to any command over him, he might do as he thought proper. The French captain to all this replied, that from the Lion's appearing and disappearing so often, it seemed as if she were looking out for another ship to assist her, and if she should happen to be joined by any other, they no doubt would instantly fall upon the Elizabeth and the frigate, and devour them both; and therefore he behoved to think it the wisest course to fight the Lion when single, because the Elizabeth in 1 Called the Doutelle. 1745] SEA-FIGHT WITH THE LION 203 that case was fit enough for the engagement, and would bid 9 July. fair enough to give a good account of the Lion. Upon this fol. 349. the French captain drew his sword, took leave of Mr. Welch and his company, went on board the Elizabeth with his sword still drawn in his hand, and gave the necessary orders for the attack. Immediately the Elizabeth bore down upon the Lion (each of them consisting of about sixty guns, and therefore equally matched), and began the attack with great briskness. The fight continued for five or six hours, when the Lion was obliged to sheer off like a tub upon the water. About the time when the captain came on board the frigate, the Prince was making ready to go on board the Elizabeth for more air and greater conveniency every way, the frigate being crowded with the gentlemen, the servants, and the crew. friends reckoned it very lucky that he had not gone on board. His The frigate all the time of the engagement lay at such a small distance, that (as the Prince observed to several friends in Scotland) the Lion might have sunk her with the greatest ease. But he said it was their good fortune that the Lion had despised them, and thought not the frigate worth the while. Besides, fol. 350. the Lion found enough of employment for all her hands in playing her part against the Elizabeth. During the time of the fight the Prince several times observed to Mr. Welch what a small assistance would serve to give the Elizabeth the possession of the Lion, and importuned him to engage in the quarrel. But Mr. Welch positively refused, and at last behoved to desire the Prince not to insist any more, otherwise he would order him down to the cabin. After the fight was all over, Mr. Welch sailed round the Elizabeth, and enquired particularly how matters stood with the captain and the crew. A lieutenant came upon deck from the captain, who was wounded in his cabin, and told Mr. Welch that between thirty and forty officers and gentlemen (besides common men) were killed and wounded, and that if Mr. Welch could supply him with a mainmast and some rigging, he would still make out the voyage with him. Mr. Welch replied that he could not furnish him with either mainmast or rigging, and that although he should have hap 9 July. pened to be capable to serve him in these things, yet he would fol. 351. not have made it his choice to lose so much time as it would require to put the Elizabeth in some better order. He desired to tell the captain it was his opinion that he should without loss of time return to France, and that he himself would do his best to make out the intended voyage. The Elizabeth accordingly returned to France, and the frigate continued her course to the coast of Scotland. She had not been long parted from the Elizabeth till the crew descried two ships of war at some distance, which they could not have well got off from; but that a mist luckily interveened, and brought them out of sight. Two or three hours before landing, an eagle came hovering over the frigate, and continued so to do till they were all safe on shore. Before dinner the Duke of Athol had spied the eagle; but (as he told several friends in Scotland) he did not chuse then to take any notice of it, lest they should have called it a Highland freit in him. When he came upon deck after dinner, he saw the eagle still hovering about in the same manner, and following the frigate in her course, and then he could not help remarking it to the Prince and his small retinue, fol. 352. which they looked upon with pleasure. His grace, turning to the Prince said, “Sir, I hope this is an excellent omen, and promises good things to us. The king of birds is come to welcome your royal highness upon your arrival in Scotland.' When they were near the shore of the Long Isle, Duncan Cameron was set out in the long boat to fetch them a proper pilot. When he landed he accidentally met with Barra's piper, who was his old acquaintance, and brought him on board. The piper piloted them safely into Erisca (about July 21 July. 21st), a small island lying between Barra and South Uist. At this time,' said Duncan Cameron, there was a devil of a minister that happened to be in the island of Barra, who did us a' the mischief that lay in his power. For when he had got any inkling about us, he dispatched away expresses with informations against us. But as the good luck was, he was not well believed, or else we would have been a' tane by the neck.' When Duncan spoke these words, 'a devil of a minister,' he bowed low, and said to me, 'Sir, I ask you ten thousand pardons for saying so in your presence. But, good faith, I can |