KNKLLKH., AT TEKRE&IES.
MEMOIRS
OF
THE JACOBITES
OF 1715 AND 1745.
BY MRS. THOMSON,
AUTHOR OF
MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF HENRY THE EIGHTH,"
MEMOIRS OF SARAH, DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH," ETC.
VOLUME II.
LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
in (tfcmavj) to
1845.
U ; '21973
Vv'V/.
LONDON :
Printed by S. & J. BENTLEY, WILSON, and FLSY,
Bangor House, Shoe Lane.
CONTENTS
TO
THE SECOND VOLUME.
PAGE
WILLIAM MAXWELL, EARL OF NITHISDALE
(with a Portrait of the Countess of Nithisdale) I
WILLIAM GORDON, VISCOUNT KENMURE . 71
WILLIAM MURRAY, MARQUIS OF TULLIBARDINE . .92
SIR JOHN MACLEAN . . . . 124
ROB ROY MACGREGOH CAMPBELL . . . .155
SIMON FRASER, LORD LOVAT . (with a Portrait) 208
MEMOIRS OF THE JACOBITES.
WILLIAM MAXWELL, EARL OF NITHISDALE.
IT is happily remarked by the editor of the Cul-
loden Papers, with regard to the devotion of many of
the Highland clans to the exiled family of Stuart,
that " it cannot be a subject requiring vindication ;
nor," adds the writer, " if it raise a glow on the face
of their descendants, is it likely to be the blush of
shame." The descendants of William Maxwell, Earl
of Nithisdale, have reason to remember, with a proud
interest, the determined and heroic affection which
rescued their ancestor from prison, no less than the
courage and fidelity which involved their chief in a
perilous undertaking, and in a miserable captivity.
The first of that ancient race, who derived their
surname from the Lordship of Maxwell, in the county
of Dumfries, was Robert de Maxwell of Carlaverock,
who, in 1314, was killed at the battle of Bannock-
burn, fighting under the banners of King James the
VOL. II. B
2 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
Third. From that period until the seventeenth
century, the house of Maxwell continued to enjoy
signal proofs of royal favour ; it was employed in
important services and on high missions, extending
its power and increasing its possessions by intermar-
riages with the richest and noblest families in Scot-
land. An enumeration of the honours and privileges
enjoyed by this valiant race will show in how re-
markable a degree it was favoured by the Stuarts,
and how various and how forcible were the reasons
which bound it to serve that generous and beloved
race of Scottish monarchs.
Herbert, who succeeded John de Maxwell, was one
of the Commissioners sent by Alexander the Second
to England, to treat for a marriage with one of the
daughters of that crown ; and, having concluded the
negotiation favourably, was endowed with the office
of Lord Great Chamberlain of Scotland, which he held
during his life-time, and which was afterwards be-
stowed on his son.
Eustace de Maxwell, in the time of Robert de
Bruce, was among those patriots who adhered to the
Scottish King. The Castle of Carlaverock, one of
the most ancient possessions of the brave Maxwells,
stands a memento, in its noble ruins, of the disin-
terested loyalty of its owners.
The remains of Carlaverock afford but a slight no-
tion of its former strength. The importance of its
situation is, however, undoubted. Situated on the
south borders of the Nith, near to Glencapel Quay,
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 3
it constituted a stronghold for the Scottish noble, who
scarcely feared a siege within its walls, and when the
army of Edward advanced to invest it, refused to
surrender ; " for the fortress was well furnished,"
says Grose, " with soldiers, engines, and provisions."
But this defiance was vain ; after sustaining an
assault, Carlaverock was obliged to capitulate ; when
the generosity of Edward's measures excited the ad-
miration of all humane minds. The troops, only sixty
in number, were taken into the King's service, as
a token of his approval of their brave defence ; they
were then released, ransom free, and received each a
new garment, as a gift from the King.
Carlaverock was, some time after, retaken by the
Scotch, and Sir Eustace de Maxwell resumed his com-
mand over the garrison. It was again invested by
King Edward ; but, on this occasion, Eustace drove
the English from the attack, and retained possession
of the fortress.
Afterwards, of his own free will, he demolished
the fortress, that no possession of his might favour
the progress of the enemy. He was rewarded by
several grants of lands, and twenty-two pounds in
money.
In the fifteenth century, Herbert de Maxwell mar-
rying a daughter of the Maxwells of Terregles (Terre
Eglise), the son of that marriage was ennobled, and
was dignified by the title of Lord de Maxwell. His
successor perished at Flodden, but the grandson of
the first Lord had a happier fortune, and was en-
4 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
trusted by James the Fifth to bring over Mary of
Guise to Scotland, first marrying her as the King's
proxy.
The house of Maxwell prospered until the reign
of James the Sixth ; by whom John, Lord Max-
well, was created Earl of Morton, and made Warden
of the Marches : but a reverse of fortune ensued.
From some court intrigue, the Warden was removed
from office, and his place supplied by the Laird of
Johnstones ; all the blood of the Maxwells was aroused ;
a quarrel and a combat were the result ; and, in the
scuffle, the new-made Earl of Morton was killed. The
injury was not forgotten, and John, who succeeded
the murdered man, deemed it incumbent upon him
to avenge his father. In consequence, the Laird of
Johnstone soon fell a sacrifice to this notion of honour,
or outbreak of offended pride. The crime was not,
however, passed over by law ; the offender was tried,
and executed, in 1613, at the Cross in Edinburgh;
and his honours were forfeited. But again the favour
of the Stuarts shone forth ; the title of Morton was
not restored, but Robert, the brother of the last Earl
of Morton, was created Earl of Nithisdale, and restored
to the Lordship of Maxwell ; with precedency, as Earl,
according to his father's creation as Earl of Morton.
This kindness was requited by a devoted loyalty ;
and, in the reign of Charles the First, the Earl of
Nithisdale suffered much, both by sequestration and
imprisonment, for the royal cause.
In 1647, in consequence of failure of the direct
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 5
line, the title and estates of the Nithisdale family
devolved on a kinsman, John Lord Herries, whose
grandson, William, the subject of this memoir, proved
to be the last of the Maxwell family that has ever
enjoyed the Earldom.
He was served heir male, and of line male and
entail of his father, on the twenty-sixth of May, 1696 ;
and heir male of his grandfather, the Earl of Nithis-
dale, on the sixteenth of the same month.* At his
accession to his title, the Earl of Nithisdale possessed
no common advantages of fortune and station. " He
was allied," says the Scottish Peerage, " to most of
the noble families in the two kingdoms." His mother,
the Lady Lucy, was daughter to the Marquis of
Douglas ; his only sister, Lady Mary Maxwell, was
married to Charles Stewart, Earl of Traquair; and
he had himself wedded a descendant of that noble
and brave Marquis of Worcester who had defended
Ragland Castle against Fairfax.
In addition to these family honours, Lord Mthis-
dale possessed rich patrimonial estates in one of the
most fertile and luxuriant counties in Scotland. The
Valley of the Nith, from which he derived his title,
owned his lordship over some of its fairest scenes.
Young, rich, and happily married, he was in the
full sunshine of prosperity when, in the year 1715,
he was called upon to prove the sincerity of that
* There is no statement of the date of Lord Nithisd ale's birth in any
of the usual authorities, neither can his descendant, William Constable
Maxwell, Esq.,>f Terregles, supply the deficient information.
6 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
fidelity to the house of Stuart for which his family
had so greatly suffered, and for which it had been so
liberally repaid.
It is remarkable that the adventurers in the unfor-
tunate cause of the Chevalier St. George were, with rare
exceptions, men of established credit, men who had
vast stakes in their country, and who had lost no
portion of their due consideration in the eyes of others
by extravagance or profligacy. This fact marks the
insurrection of 1715, as presenting a very different
aspect to that of other insurrections raised by faction,
and supported by men of desperate fortunes. So early
as the year 1707, it appears by Colonel Hooke's secret
negotiations in favour of the Stuarts, that the bulk
of the Scottish nobility had their hearts engaged in
"the cause, and that their honour was pledged to come
forward on the first occasion. In the enumeration
given by one of the agents employed in traversing the
country, Lord Mthisdale and his relatives are mention-
ed as certain and potent allies. " In Tweedale," writes
Mr. Fleming to the Minister of Louis the Fourteenth,
" the Earl of Traquair, of the house of "Stuart, and
the Laird of Stanhope are powerful. In the shires of
Annandale, Niddesdale, and Galloway, are the Earl of
Niddesdale, with the Viscount of Kenmure, the Laird
of Spinkell, with the numerous clan of the Maxwells ;
and there is some hope also of the Earl of Galloway ;
Thus the King's party is connected through the whole
kingdom, and we are certain of being masters of all
the shires, except Argyleshire, Clydesdale, Renfrew,
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 7
Dumbarton, and Kyle."* " An affair of this nature/'
adds Mr. Fleming, " cannot be communicated to all the
well affected ; and it is a great proof of the zeal of
those to whom it is trusted, that so many people have
been able to keep this secret so inviolably." Such
was the commencement of that compact which, held
together by the word of Scotchmen, was in few in-
stances broken ; but was maintained with as scrupu-
lous a regard to honour and fidelity by the poorest
Highlander that ever trod down the heather, as by
the great nobleman within his castle hall.
Among the list of the most considerable chiefs in
Scotland, with an account of their disposition for or
against the Government, the Earl of Nithisdale is spe-
cified by contemporary writers as one who is able to
raise three hundred men, and willing to employ that
force in the service of the Pretender, f
In the resolution to carry the aid of his clans-
men to the service of either side, the chieftain of that
day was powerfully assisted by the blind devotion of
the brave and faithful people whom he led to battle.
Unhappily, the influence of the chief was often
arbitrarily, and even cruelly exerted, in cases of doubt-
ful willingness in their followers.
It will be interesting to scrutinize the motives
and characters of those who occupied the chief posts
in command, upon the formation of this Southern
party in favour of the Chevalier. Although some of
* Secret History of Colonel Hooke's Negotiations, by himself, p. 175.
London, 1740. t Patten's History of the Rebellion, of 1715, p. 234.
8 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
these chiefs have obtained celebrity in history, yet
their efforts were sincere ; their notions of patriotism,
be they just, or be they erroneous, deserve a rescue
from oblivion ; their sufferings, and the heroism with
which they were encountered, show to what an extent
the fixed principle to which the Scotch are said ever
to recur, will carry the exertions, and support the
fortitude, of that enduring and determined people.
To Willian Gordon, Viscount Kenmure and Baron
of Lochinvar, was entrusted, in a commission from
the Earl of Mar, the command of the insurgents in
the south of Scotland. This choice of a General
displayed the usual want of discernment which
characterized the leaders of the Rebellion of 1715.
Grave, and as a contemporary describes him, " full
aged;" of extraordinary knowledge in public affairs,
but a total stranger to all military matters ; calm,
but slow in judgment ; of unsullied integrity,
endowed, in short, with qualities truly respect-
able, but devoid of energy, boldness, and address, yet
wanting not personal courage, there could scarcely
have been found a more excellent man, nor a more
feeble commander. At the head of a troop of gentle-
men, full of ardour in the cause, the plain dress and
homely manners of Lord Kenmure seemed inappro-
priate to the conspicuous station which he held ; for
the exercise of his functions as commander was at-
tended by some circumstances which required a great
combination of worldly knowledge with singleness of
purpose.
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 9
George Seaton, the fifth Earl of Wintoun, was
another of those noblemen who raised a troop of horse,
and engaged, from the very first commencement of the
rebellion, in its turmoils. The family of Seaton, of
which the Earl of Wintoun was the last in the direct
line, " affords in its general characteristics," says a cele-
brated Scottish genealogist, " the best specimen of our
ancient nobility. They seem to have been the first to
have introduced the refined arts, and an improved
state of architecture in Scotland. They were con-
sistent in their principles, and, upon the whole, as
remarkable for their deportment and baronial respecta-
bility, as for their descent and noble alliances."*
In consequence of so many great families having
sprung from the Seatons, they were styled " Magnce No-
Ulitatis Domini ;" and their antiquity was as remark-
able as their alliances, the male representation of the
family, and the right to the honours which they bore,
having been transmitted to the present Earl of Eglin-
toun, through an unbroken descent of seven centuries
and a half.
The loyalty of the Seatons was untainted. The first
Earl of Wintoun had adopted as one of his mottoes,
" Intaminatis fulget honoribus" and the sense of those
words was fully borne out by the testimony of time.
The Seatoun Charter Chest contained, as one of their
race remarked, no remission of any offence against Go-
* Service of the Earl of Eglintoun, as heir male of the Earl of Win-
toun. Printed for the family. Extract from " Peerage Law by Riddell,"
p. 201. Published in 1825.
10 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
vernment, a fact which could not be affirmed of any
other Scottish family of note. But this brave and
ancient house had signal reason for remaining hitherto
devoted to the monarchs of the Scottish throne.
Four times had the Seatons been allied with royalty :
two instances were remarkable. George Seatoun,
second Earl of Huntly, married the Princess Anna-
bella, daughter of James the First, and from that
union numerous descendants of Scottish nobility exist
to this day : and George, the third Lord Seaton, again
-allied his house with that of Stuart, by marrying the
Lady Margaret Stuart, daughter of the Earl of Buchan,
and granddaughter of Robert the Second. In conse-
quence of these several intermarriages, it was pro-
verbially said of the house of Seaton, " the family is
come of princes, and reciprocally princes are come
of the family." And these bonds of relationship were
cemented by services performed and honours conferred.
The devotion of the Seatons to Mary, Queen of Scots,
has been immortalised by the pen of Sir Walter Scott.
George, the seventh Lord Seaton, attended on that un-
happy Princess in some of the most brilliant scenes of
her eventful life, and clung to her in every vicissitude
of her fate. He, as Ambassador to France, negotiated
her marriage with the Dauphin, and was present at the
celebration of the nuptials. He afterwards aided his
royal mistress to escape from Lochleven Castle, in
1568, and conducted her to Niddry Castle, his own
seat. When, in gratitude for his fidelity, Mary would
have created him an Earl, Lord Seaton declined the
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 11
honour, and preferred his existing rank as Premier
Baron of Scotland. Mary celebrated his determination
in a couplet, written both in French and in Latin :
" II y a des comtes, des rois, des dues aussi,
Ce't assez pour moy d'estre Signeur de Seton."
The successor of Lord Seaton, Robert, judged differently
from his father, and accepted from James the Sixth
the patent for the Earldom of Wintoun; distinguishing
the new honour by a courage which procured for him
the appellation of " Grey steel/' *
George, the fifth Earl of Wintoun, and the unfor-
tunate adherent to the Jacobite cause, succeeded to the
honours of his ancestors under circumstances peculiarly
embarrassing. His legitimacy was doubted : at the
time when his father died, this ill-fated young man
was abroad, his residence was obscure; and as he held
no correspondence with any of his relations, little was
known with regard to his personal character. In con-
sequence partly of his absence from Scotland, partly,
it is said, of an actual hereditary tendency, a belief
soon prevailed that he was insane, or rather, as a con-
temporary expresses it, " mighty subject to a particu-
lar kind of caprice natural to his family, "f
The Viscount Kingston, next heir to the title
of Wintoun, having expressed his objections to Lord
Wintoun's legitimacy, the young man, in 1710,
took steps to establish himself as his father's heir.
Two witnesses were produced who were present at
* Service of the Earl of Eglintoun, p. 8.
t Buchan's Account of the Earls Marischal, p. 125.
12 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
the marriage of his parents, and bonds were found
in the family chests, designating Lord Wintoun as
" our eldest lawful son/' by Dame Christian Hepburn
Countess of Wintoun, " our spouse." This important
point being established, Lord Wintoun served himself
heir to his father and became the possessor of the family
estates, chiefly situated in East Lothian, their principal
.residence being the palace of Seaton, so recognized in
the royal charters, from its having been the favourite
resort of royalty, the scene of entertainment to Mary
of Scots, and her court, and the residence of Charles
the First, when in Scotland in 1633. It was after-
wards the place of meeting for the Jacobite nobles, and
their adherents. 45 "
Differing from many of his companions in arms,
Lord Wintoun was a zealous Protestant ; but without
any regard to the supremacy of either mode of faith,
it appears to have been a natural consequence of his
birth and early associations that he should cling to
the house of the Stuarts. One would almost have
applied to the young nobleman the term " recreant,"
had he wavered when the descendant of Mary Stuart
claimed his services. But such a course was far from
his inclination. It was afterwards deemed expedient
by his friends to plead for him on the ground of
natural weakness of intellect ; " but," says a con-
temporary, "Lord Wintoun wants no courage, nor so
much capacity as his friends find it for his interest to
suggest." f He was forward in action, and stimulated
the military ardour of his followers, as they rushed
* Eglinton Case. t Patten, p. 52.
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 13
with their ancient cry of " Set-on" to the combat.
The earliest motto borne on these arms by the Seatons,
" Hazard, yet forward," might indeed be mournfully
applied to all who engaged in the hopeless Rebellion
of 1715.
Lord Wintoun, like Lord Derwentwater, was in the
bloom of his youth when he summoned his tenantry to
follow him to the rendezvous appointed by Lord Ken-
mure. He took with him three hundred men to the
standard of James Stuart ; but he appears to have
carried with him a fiery and determined temper,
the accompaniment, perhaps, of noble qualities, but a
dangerous attribute in times of difficulty.
Robert Dalzell, sixth Earl of Carnwath, was another
of those Scottish noblemen whose adherence to the
Stuarts can only be regarded as a natural consequence
of their birth and education. The origin erf his family,
which was of great antiquity in the county of Lanark,
but had been transplanted into Nithisdale, is referred
to in the following anecdote. In the reign of Kenneth
the Second, a kinsman of the King having been taken
and hung by the Picts, a great reward was offered by
Kenneth, if any one would rescue and restore the
corpse of his relation. The enterprise was so hazardous,
that no one would venture on so great a risk. " At
last," so runs the tale, " a certain gentleman came to
the King, and said, ' Dalziel/ which is the old Scottish
word for ' I dare/ He performed his engagement, and
won for himself and his posterity the name which he
had verified, and an armorial bearing corresponding to
the action.
14 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
To James the First and to Charles the First the
Dalziels owed their honours, and had the usual fortune
of paying dearly for them, during the Great Rebellion,
by sequestration, and by the imprisonment of Robert,
first Earl of Carnwath, after the battle of Worcester,
whither he attended Charles the Second. Undaunted by
the adversities which his house had formerly endured,
Robert Dalzell, of Glense, sixth Earl of Carnwath, again
came forward in 1715 to maintain the principles
in which he had been nurtured, and to assist the
family for whom his ancestors had suffered. During
his childhood, the tutor of this nobleman had made
it his chief care to instil into his mind the doctrine
of hereditary right, and its consequent, passive
obedience and non-resistance. At the University
of Cambridge, young Dalzell had imbibed an affection
for the liturgy and discipline of the Church of
England ; whilst his attainments had kept pace with
the qualities of his heart, and the graces of his de-
portment. He was, in truth, a young man of fair
promise, and one whose fate excited great interest,
when a sombre tranquillity had succeeded to the tur-
bulence of rebellion. Gentle in his address, affable,
kind-hearted, Lord Carnwath had a natural and ready
wit, and a great command of language, to which his
English education had doubtless contributed. He was
related by a former marriage between the families to
the Earl of Wintoun, whose troop was commanded by
Captain James Dalzell, the brother of Lord Carnwath.
This young officer had served in the army of George
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 15
the First, but he threw up his commission at the be-
ginning of the Rebellion, a circumstance which saved
him from being shot at Preston as a deserter. *
Robert Balfour, fifth Earl of Burleigh, was among
the chiefs who, shortly after the outbreak, avowed their
adherence to the Pretender's party. He was one of the
few Jacobites whose personal character has reflected
discredit upon his motives, and disgraced his compeers :
his story has the air of romance, but is perfectly recon-
cilable with the spirit of the times in which Lord
Burleigh figured.
"When a very young man he became attached to a
girl of low rank, and was sent abroad by his friends in
hopes of removing his attachment. Before he quitted
Scotland, he swore, however, that if the young woman
married in his absence, he would kill her husband.
Upon returning home, he found that the unfortunate
object of his aifections had been united to Henry
Stenhouse, the schoolmaster at Inverkeithing. The
threat had not been uttered without a deep meaning :
young Balfour kept his word, and hastening to the
school where Stenhouse was pursuing his usual duties,
he stabbed him in the midst of his scholars. The
victim of this murderous attack died twelve days after-
wards.
Nearly eight years had elapsed since the crime had
been perpetrated, and the wretched murderer had en-
countered, since that time, his trial, in the Court of
Justiciary, and had received sentence of death by
* Patten, p. 54. Life of the Earls Marischal, p. 130.
16 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
beheading ; but he escaped from prison a few days
previously, by exchanging clothes with his sister.
He was then a commoner; but in 1714, the title of
Lord Burleigh, and an estate of six hundred and
ninety-seven pounds yearly, devolved upon him.
When the Rebellion broke out, his restless spirit, as
well, perhaps, as the loss of reputation, and the miseries
of reflection, impelled him to enter into the contest.
Such were the principal promoters of the insurrec-
tion in the south of Scotland ; they were held together
by firm bonds of sympathy, and their plans were con-
certed in renewed conferences at stated periods.
The twenty-ninth of May was, of course, religiously
observed by this increasing and formidable party.
During the previous year (1714) the Jacobite gentry
had met at Lochmaben, under pretence of a horse-
racing ; and, although it does not appear that the
Earl of Nithisdale was among those who assembled
on that occasion, yet several of his kinsmen attended.
The plates which were the prizes had significant
devices : on one of them were wrought figures of men
in a falling posture ; above them stood one "eminent
person," the Pretender, underneath whom were in-
scribed the words from Ezekiel, xxi. 27, "I will
overturn, overturn, overturn it : and it shall be no
more, until he come whose right it is, and I will
give it him." When the races were ended, Lord
Burleigh, then Master of Burleigh, led the way to
the Cross of Lochmaben, where, with great solemnity,
drums beating, and colours displayed, those there col-
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 17
ected drank to " their King's health ;" the Master
of Burleigh giving the toast, and uttering an impre-
cation on all such as should refuse to pledge it.
These meetings had been continued for several years,
and, during the reign of Queen Anne, without any
molestation from Government."" Lord Nithisdale took
a decided part in all these measures, and was one
of those who were considered as entirely to be trusted
by the Earl of Mar, with regard to the projected
arrival of the Pretender in Scotland. On the sixth
of August, 1715, that project was communicated by
Mar to the Earl of Mthisdale, through the medium
of Captain Dalzell, who was despatched likewise to
Lord Kenmure, and to the Earl of Carnwath. Lord
Nithisdale obeyed the summons, and met the great
council of the Jacobite nobles at Braemar, where
the decisive and irrevocable step was taken.
Lord Mthisdale, in common with the other mem-
bers of what was now termed the Jacobite Association,
had been diligently preparing the contest. Meet-
ings of the Association had been frequent, and even
public. The finest horses had been bought up at
any cost, with saddles and accoutrements, and num-
bers of horse-shoes. Many country gentlemen, who
were in the habit of keeping only two or three
saddle-horses at a time, now collected double the
number ; and a suspicion prevailed that it was the
intention of some, who were Jacobites, to mount
a troop. But no seizure had been made of their
* Reay's History of the Late Rebellion. Dumfries, 1718.
VOL. II.
18 WILLTAM MAXWELL,
property in the last reign, there being few justices
of the peace in Dumfriesshire, nominated by Queen
Anne, who were not in the service of the Cheva-
lier.* Trained bands were, however, soon raised by
the well-affected gentry of the county for the pro-
tection of the neighbourhood ; and Nithisdale was
traversed by armed bands, Closeburn House, then
$ie residence of Sir Thomas Kirkpatrick,f being a
frequent point of union for the friends of the Hano-
verian interests to assemble.:]: At Trepons, in the
upper part of Nithisdale, was the first blood drawn
that was shed in this disastrous quarrel, Mr. Bell of
Nimsea, a Jacobite gentleman, being there shot through
the leg by one of the guards, on his refusing to obey
orders. The occurrence was typical of the remorse-
less cruelty which was afterwards exhibited towards
the brave but unfortunate insurgents.
By a clause in the act " for encouraging loyalty in
Scotland," passed on the thirtieth of August, power
was given to the authorities to summon to Edinburgh
all the heads of the Jacobite clans, and other sus-
pected persons, by a certain day, to find bail for their
good conduct. Among the long list of persons who
were thus cited to appear, was the Earl of Nithisdale.
Upon his non-appearance, he was, with the rest, de-
nounced, and declared a rebel. || This citation was
followed by an outbreak on the part of Lord Ken-
mure and his followers, simultaneous to that on which
* Reay, p. 13&. f Now of Sir Charles Stuart Menteath, Bart.
t Reay, p. 184. Id. || Id. p. 211.
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 19
the Northumberland Jacobites had decided. And the
borders now became the chief haunts of the insur-
gents, who continued moving from place to place, and
from house to house, in order to ripen the scheme which
involved, as they considered, their dearest interests.
The loyal inhabitants of Dumfries were engaged,
one Saturday, in the solemnities of preparation for
the holy sacrament, when they received intimation
of a plot to surprise and take possession of the town
on the following sabbath, during the time of commu-
nion. This project was defeated by the prompt as-
sembling of forces, notwithstanding that Lord Ken-
mure, with one hundred and fifty -three horsemen, ad-
vanced within a mile and a half of the town, on his
march from Moffat. Upon being advised of the pre-
parations made for defence, this too prudent com-
mander addressed his troops, and said, " that he
doubted not there were, in the town, as brave gen-
tlemen there as himself, and that he would not go on
to Dumfries that day." He returned to Lochmaben,
where, on the following Thursday, the Pretender's
standard was proclaimed : Lochmaben is a small
market-town about fifteen miles from Dumfries ; it
served for some time as the head-quarters of the
Jacobite party. " At their approach," relates the his-
torian of that local insurrection, " the people of that
place had put their cattle into a fold to make room for
their horses ; but the beasts having broken the fold,
some of them drew home to the town a little before
day ; and a townsman, going to hunt one of 'em out
c 2
20 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
of his yeard, called on his dog nam'd ' Help/ Here-
upon the sentries cried ' Where V and apprehending it
had been a party from Dumfries to attack them, gave
the alarm to the rebels, who got up in great confusion."
Lord Kenmure, attended by the Jacobite chiefs,
and Lord Nithisdale, soon quitted the town of
Lochmaben ; and proceeding to Ecclefechan, and thence
marching to Langholme, reached Hawick on the fif-
teenth of September, and determined on proceeding
from that place into Teviotdale. Meantime measures
were taken by the Duke of Roxburgh, who was Lieu-
tenant Governor of Dumfriesshire, to prevent the
Castle of Carlaverock being made available for the
Jacobite forces. The Duke gave orders that the back
bridge of the isle should be taken off, and a communi-
cation thus cut off between the Papists in the lower
part of Galloway and the rebels in the borders. The
inhabitants of the parish of Carlaverock were also
strictly watched, being tenants, mostly, of the Earl of
Nithisdale ; and the same precaution was taken with
regard to his Lordship's tenantry in Traquair, Ter-
regles, and Kirkcunyean ; yet, according to the state-
ment of Mr. Reay, a most violent partisan against the
Jacobites, the humble dwellers on these estates were
but little disposed to follow their chieftain, who took,
so the same account declares, " only two or three domes-
tic servants with him." * This, however, is contradicted
by the assertion of Mr. Patten, who specifies that
Lord Nithisdale was followed by three hundred of his
tenantry ; and also by the expectations which were
* Reay, p. 257.
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 21
founded, upon a close survey and scrutiny, by the
agents of the Chevalier before the outbreak.*
Lord Nithisdale had now taken a last farewell of the
beautiful and smiling country of his forefathers ; with
what bright hopes, with what anticipations of a success-
ful march and a triumphant return he may have
quitted Terregles, it is easy to conjecture. Unhappily
his enterprise was linked to one over which a man,
singularly ill-fitted for the office of command, presided :
for it was decreed that the Jacobite forces, under the
command of Lord Kenmure, should proceed to the as-
sistance of Mr. Forster's ill-fated insurrection in the
north of England.
The history of that luckless and ill-concerted enter-
prise has been already given. f The Earl of Nithisdale
was taken prisoner after the battle of Preston, but
little mention is made of his peculiar services at that
place.
Lord Nithisdale was, with other prisoners of the
same rank, removed to London. The prisoners of
inferior rank were disposed of, under strong guards, in
the different castles of Lancaster, Chester, and Liver-
pool. The indignities which were wreaked upon the
unfortunate Jacobites as they entered London have
been detailed in the life of Lord Derwentwater. Amid
the cries of a savage populace, and the screams of "No
warming pan," " King George for ever !" an exclama-
tion which proves how deeply the notion of spurious
birth had sunk into the minds of the people, the
* Patten, pp. 224 235. Colonel Hooke's Negotiations..
f In the Life of Lord Derwentwater.
22 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
Earl of Mthisdale was conducted, his arms tied with
cords, and the reins of his horse taken from him, with
his unfortunate companions, into the Tower. He ar-
rived in London on the 9th of December, 1715.*
Of the manner in which the State prisoners of that
period were treated, there are sufficient records left to
prove that no feeling of compassion for what might be
deemed a wrong, but yet a generous principle of devo-
tion to the Stuarts, no high-toned sentiment of respect
to bravery, nor consideration for the habits and feelings
of their prisoners, influenced the British Government
during that time of triumph. The mode in which those
unfortunate captives were left in the utmost penury
and necessity to petition for some provision, after
their estates were escheated, plainly manifests how
little there was of that sympathy with calamity which
marks the present day.f
But if the State prisoners in London were treated
with little humanity, those who were huddled together
in close prisons at Preston, Chester, Liverpool, and the
other towns were in a still more wretched condition.
In the stores of the State Paper Office are to be
found heartrending appeals for mercy, from prisoners
sinking under dire diseases from too close contiguity, or
from long confinement in one apartment. Consumption
seems to have been very prevalent ; and in Newgate
the gaol fever raged. For this rigorous confinement
* Reay, p. 326.
t See Letters in the State Paper Office from Lord Widdrington, and
many others of inferior rank, No. 3. 1715.
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 23
the excuse was, that it had been found impossible to
give the prisoners air, without risk of escape. In
Chester, the townspeople conspired to assist the poor
wretches in this endeavour ; and perhaps, in regard to
those of meaner rank, the authorities were not very
averse to the success of such efforts, for the prisons
were crowded, and the expense of even keeping the
unfortunate captives alive began to be a source of
complaint on the part of Government.
The great majority of the prisoners of the north
were country gentlemen, Roman Catholics, from Cum-
berland and Northumberland, men who were hearty
and sincere in their convictions of the righteousness of
their cause men, whose ancestors had mustered their
tenantry in the field for Charles the First. To those
whose lives were spared, a petition was recommended,
and taken round for signature, praying that their sen-
tence of death or of imprisonment might be exchanged
for transportation. But, whether these high-spirited
gentlemen expected that another insurrection might act
in their favour, or whether they preferred death to a
final farewell, under circumstances so dreadful, to their
country, does not appear. They mostly refused to sign
the petition, which was offered to them singly : and
the commandant at Preston, Colonel Rapin, in his
correspondence with Lord Townshend, expresses his
annoyance at their obstinacy, and expatiates on the
inconvenience of the numbers under his charge at
Preston. At length, after Captain John Dalzell, bro-
ther to the Earl of Carnwath, had signed the pe-
24 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
tition, a large body of the prisoners were ordered to
be transported without their petitioning, and to be put
in irons. They were hurried away to Liverpool, to
embark thence for the Colonies, gentlemen and private
soldiers mingled in one mass ; but orders were after-
wards sent by Lord Townshend to detain the gentlemen.
Three hundred and twenty-seven prisoners had, how-
ever, been already shipped off. Those who remained
were not permitted to converse, even with each other,
without risk, one Thomas Wells being appointed as a
spy to write to the Jacobites, and to discourse with
them, under the garb of friendliness, in order to draw
out their real sentiments.*
From this digression, which may not be deemed
irrelevant, since it marks the spirit of the times, we
return to the unhappy prisoners in the Tower, which
was now thickly tenanted by the fallen Jacobites.
Lord Mthisdale had the sorrow of knowing that
many of his friends and kinsmen were in the same
gloomy and impenetrable fortress to which he had
been conducted. It is possible that the Jacobite
noblemen were not hopeless ; and that remembering
the clemency of William the Third to those who had
held a treasonable correspondence with the Court of
St. Germains, they might look for a similar line of
policy from the reigning monarch.
It must be acknowledged, however, that Government
had been greatly exasperated by acts of violence and
of wanton destruction on the part of the Jacobites
* State Papers, 1716, No. 3.
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 25
throughout the country ; and that the general dis-
affection throughout the North, and, in particular,
the strong Tory predilections at Oxford, must have
greatly aggravated the dangers, and consequently, in
a political view, have enhanced the crimes of the
Chevalier's adherents. " The country," writes Colonel
Rapin to Lord Townshend, " is full of them [the Ja-
cobites], and the same spirit reigns in London/'
" Oxford," writes an informant, under the name of
Philopoliticus, "is debauched by Jacobitism. They
call the Parliament the Rump ; and riots in the street,
with cries of ' Down with the Rump !' occur daily."
Even the fellows and heads of the colleges were dis-
posed to Jacobite opinions ; and the Jacobites had
expected that the city would become the Chevalier's
head-quarters as it had been that of Charles the First.*
But that which hastened the fate of the Earl of
Nithisdale and of his friends, was the landing of James
Stuart, at Peterhead, in Scotland, on the twenty-
second of December, an event which took place too
late for his friends and partisans, and fatally in-
creased the calamities of those who had suffered in his
cause. On Monday, the ninth of January, he made
his public entry into Perth, and, on the same day, the
reigning monarch addressed his Parliament, f
" Among the many unavoidable ill consequences of
this Rebellion," said the King, "none affects me more
sensibly than that extraordinary burden which it has,
and must, create to my faithful subjects. To ease them
* State Papers, No. 3, July 26, 1715. t Reay, p. 355.
26 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
as far as lies in my power, I take this first opportunity
of declaring that I freely give up all the estates that
shall become forfeited to the Crown by this Rebellion, to
be applied towards defraying the extraordinary expense
incurred on this occasion." As soon as a suitable ad-
dress had been returned by both Houses, a debate con-
cerning the prisoners taken in rebellion ensued, and
a conference was determined on with the House of
Lords. Mr. Lechmere, who was named to carry up
the message to the Lords, returned, and made a long
and memorable speech, concerning the rise, depth, and
extent of the Rebellion ; after which it was resolved,
nemine contradicente, to impeach the Earl of Derwent-
water, William Lord Widdrington, William Earl of
Nithisdale, Robert Earl of Carnwath, George Earl of
Wintoun, William Viscount Kenmure, and William
Lord Nairn, of high treason.
The same evening, a committee was appointed to
draw up articles of impeachment ; and so great was
the dispatch used, and so zealous were the committee,
that in two hours the articles were prepared, agreed to,
and ordered to be engrossed with the usual saving
clause. During this time, the Lords remained sitting,
and before ten o'clock the articles were presented
before that assembly.
On the following day, the prisoners were conducted
before the Bar of the House, where the articles of im-
peachment were read to them, and they were desired
to prepare their replies on the sixteenth day of the
month. Thus only six days were allowed for their
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 27
answers ; upon application, however, two days more
were granted. The prisoners were allowed to choose
counsel, and also to have a free communication with
any persons, either peers or commoners, whom they
might name.
On the twenty-first of January, the King again
addressed his Parliament, and referred to the recent
landing of the " Pretender" in Scotland. The reply of
the two Houses to this speech emphatically declares,
" that the landing of the Pretender hath increased
their indignation against him and his adherents, and
that they were determined to do everything in their
power to assist his Majesty, not only in subduing the
present Rebellion, but in destroying the seeds and
causes of it, that the like disturbance may never rise
again to impair the blessings of his Majesty's reign." *
On the ninth of February the six impeached lords
were brought, at eleven in the morning, to the Court
erected in Westminster Hall, wherein both Lords and
Commons were assembled. The ceremonial of opening
this celebrated Court was conducted in the following
manner :
The Lords being placed on their proper seats, and
the Lord High Steward on the woolsack, the Clerk of
the Crown in the Court of Chancery, after making
three reverences to the Lord Steward, presented, on
his knees, the King's commission; which, after the
usual reverences, was placed on the table. A pro-
clamation for silence was then heard. The High
* Reay, p. 359.
28 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
Steward stood up and addressed the Peers, " His Ma-
jesty's commission is going to be read ; your Lordships
are desired to attend."
The Peers hereupon arose, uncovered themselves,
and stood while the commission was being read. The
voice of the Sergeant-at-arms exclaimed, " God save the
King !" The Herald and Gentleman Usher of the
Black Kod, after three reverences, kneeling, then pre-
sented the White Staff to his Grace, the High Steward ;
upon which his Grace, attended by the Herald, the
Black Rod, and Seal Bearer, removed from the wool-
sack to an armed chair which was placed on the
uppermost step but one next to the throne.
The Clerk of the Crown ordered the Serjeant-at-
arms to make another proclamation for silence ; and
amidst the stillness, the Lieutenant of the Tower
brought in, amid an assembly of their compeers, his
prisoners. Lord Wintoun was alone absent ; for he
had obtained a few days of delay/"'
The Earl of JSlthisdale pleaded guilty, with his
companions in misfortune. On Thursday, the nine-
teenth of January, when called upon for his answer,
his defence was couched in the following terms :
" It is with the greatest confusion," he began, " the
said Earl appears at your Lordships' Bar, under
the weight of an impeachment by the Commons of
Great Britain for high treason." He went on to de-
clare that he had ever been a zealous assertor of the
liberties of his country, and never engaged in any
* A Faithful Register of the Late Rebellion, London, p. 65, 1718.
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 29
design to subvert the established Government and
good laws of the kingdom.
When summoned by those who were entrusted with
the administration of the government in Scotland to
Edinburgh, he did, he alleged, not obey the summons,
being assured that if he went thither he would be made
a close prisoner. He was therefore forced to abscond ;
for being at that time in ill-health, a confinement in
Edinburgh Castle would have endangered his life.
The Earl also stated that he had remained in privacy,
until several of the persons mentioned in the impeach-
ment had appeared in arms very near the place where
they had lain concealed. He then " inconsiderately
and unfortunately" joined them, with four domestics
only, and proceeded in their company to the places
named in the indictment ; but knew nothing of the in-
tended insurrection until the party " were actually in
arms." After some expressions, stating that he was
deeply sensible of his offence, he confessed, with " a
sorrow equal to his crime," that he was guilty ; but
referred to his hopes of mercy, grounded on his
having capitulated at Preston, where he performed the
duty of a Christian in preventing effusion of blood ;
and on his reliance on his Majesty's mercy."
On being further asked by the Lord High Steward
whether he had anything to say " why judgment
should not pass upon him according to law," Lord
Nithisdale recapitulated the points in his answer in
so weak a voice, that the Lord Steward reiterated
the former question : " Have you pleaded anything
30 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
in arrest of judgment \" " No, my Lord, I have
not," was the reply.
The Earl of Mthisdale received the sentence of con-
demnation with the other Lords ; and, like them, had
the misery of hearing his doom prefaced by a long
and admired harangue. The sentence was then pro-
nounced in all its barbarous particularities ; the
law being in this, as the Lord High Steward declared,
deaf to all distinctions of rank, " required that he
should pronounce them." But his Grace intimated
the most ignominious and painful parts of the sen-
tence were usually remitted.
Lord Nithisdale, unlike Lord Widdrington and Lord
Kenmure, who had referred in terms of anguish to
their wives and children, had made no appeal on the
plea of those family ties, to which few of his judges
could have been insensible. He returned to the Tower,
under sentence of death, to be saved by the heroism
of a woman ; according to some accounts, of his
mother * but actually, by the fearless, devoted affec-
tion of his wife.
Winifred, Countess of Nithisdale, appears, from her
portrait by Kneller, to have conjoined to an heroic con-
tempt of danger a feminine and delicate appearance,
with great loveliness of countenance. f She was de-
* Faithful Register, p. 86.
t Her picture, painted in the bloom of her youth, is still at Terregles,
in Dumfriesshire, the seat of William Constable Maxwell, Esq., the
descendant of Lord Nithisdale. To Mrs. Constable Maxwell, of Ter-
regles, I am indebted for the following interesting description of the
portrait of Lady Nithisdale, to which I have referred. " Her hair is
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 31
scended from a family who knew no prouder recol-
lection than that their castle-towers had been the
last to welcome the unhappy Charles the First in
the manner suited to royalty. Her mother was the
Lady Elizabeth Herbert, daughter of Edward, the
second Marquis of Worcester, and author of " The
Century of Inventions." Lady Nithisdale was there-
fore the great-granddaughter of that justly honoured
Marquis of Worcester whose loyalty and disinterested-
ness were features of a character as excellent in
private life, as benevolent, as sincere, as it was con-
spicuous in his public career. Yet, so universal, so
continual has been the popular prejudice against
Popery in this country, that even the virtues of this
good man could scarcely rescue him from the im-
putation, as Lord Clarendon expresses it, of being
" that sort of Catholics, the people rendered odious,
by accusing to be most Jesuited."
The maternal family of Lady Mthisdale were, there-
fore, of the same faith with her husband, and, like his
family, they had suffered deeply for the cause of the
Stuarts ; and it is remarkable that, with what some
might deem infatuation, many descendants of those who
had seen their fairest possessions ravaged, their friends
and kindred slain, should be ready to suffer again.
It is impossible for any reasoning to dispel the idea
light brown, slightly powdered, and she is represented with large soft
eyes, regular features, and fair, rather pale complexion. Her soft ex-
pression and delicate appearance give little indication of the strength of
mind and courage which she displayed. Her dress is blue silk, with a
border of cambric, and the drapery a cloak of brown silk."
32 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
that this must be a true and fixed principle, inde-
pendent, in many noble instances, of the hope of re-
ward, a far less enduring motive, and one which
would be apt to change with every change of for-
tune.
Lady Nithisdale, on her father's side, was descended
from the Herberts of Powis Castle, who were ennobled
in the reign of James the First. She was the fourth
daughter of William, Marquis of Powis, who followed
James the Second, after his abdication, to France, and
was created by that monarch Duke of Powis, a title
not recognised in England.* The titular Duke of
Powis, as he is frequently called in history, chose to
remain at St. Germains, and was at length outlawed
for not returning within a certain period. He died
at St. Germains in 1696. Upon the death of her
father, Lady Winifrid Herbert was placed with her
elder sister, the Lady Lucy, in the English convent
at Bruges, of which Lady Lucy eventually became
Abbess. A less severe fate was, however, in store for
the younger sister.
Under these adverse circumstances, so far as re-
lated to the proper maintenance of her father's rank
in England, was Winifred Herbert reared. How and
where she met with Lord Nithisdale, and whether
the strong attachment which afterwards united them
* His son was restored to his father's honours. The title of Marquis
of Powis became extinct ; but the estates devolved on Lord Herbert of
Cherbury, husband to the last Marquis's niece ; and ultimately to Lady
Henrietta Herbert, who married Lord Clive, created Earl of Powis.
Burke's Extinct Peerage.
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 33
so indissolubly, was nurtured in the saloons of St.
Germains, or in the romantic haunts of Mthisdale, we
have no information to decide, neither have the de-
scendants of the family been able even to ascertain
the date of her marriage.
It is not improbable, however, that, before his mar-
riage, Lord Nithisdale visited Paris and Rome, since
the practice of making what was called " the grand
tour" not only prevailed among the higher classes,
but especially among the Jacobite nobility, many of
whom, as in the case of Lord Derwentwater, were
educated abroad ; and this is more especially likely
to have been the case in the instance of Lord Nithis-
dale, since, as Lady Nithisdale remarks in her narra-
tive, her husband was a Roman Catholic in a part
of Scotland peculiarly adverse to that faith, " the
only support," as she calls him, " of the Catholics
against the inveteracy of the Whigs, who were very
numerous in that part of Scotland."
In her participation of those decided political opi-
nions, which were inbred in Lady Nithisdale, she ap-
pears not to have departed from that feminine cha-
racter which rises to sublimity when coupled with
a fearless sacrifice of selfish considerations. It was
the custom of the day for ladies to share in the in-
trigues of faction, more or less. Lady Fauconbridge,
the Countess of Derwentwater, Lady Seaforth, all ap-
pear to have taken a lively part in the interests of
the Jacobites. The Duchess of Marlborough was, po-
litically speaking, extinct ; but the restless love of
VOL. II. D
34 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
ascendancy is never extinct. The fashionable world
were still divided between her, and the rival whom
she so despised, Catherine Sedley, Duchess of Buck-
ingham.
But Lady Nithisdale, living in the North, and pos-
sibly occupied with her two children, remained, as
she affirms, in the country, until the intelligence of
her lord's committal to the Tower brought her from
her seclusion years afterwards ; she writes thus to
her sister, the Lady Lucy Herbert, Abbess of the
English Augustine Nuns at Bruges, who had, it seems,
requested from her an account of the circumstances
under which Lord Nithisdale escaped from the Tower.
" I first came to London/' Lady Nithisdale writes,
" upon hearing that my lord was committed to the
Tower. I was at the same time informed that he
had expressed the greatest anxiety to see me, having,
as he afterwards told me, no one to console him till I
came. I rode to Newcastle, and from thence took the
stage to York. When I arrived there, the snow was
so deep that the stage could not set out for London.
The season was so severe, and the roads so bad,
that the post itself was stopped : however, I took
horses and rode to London, though the snow was
generally above the horses' girths and arrived safe
without any accident."
After this perilous journey, the determined woman
sought interviews with the reigning Ministers, but she
met with no encouragement ; on the contrary, she
was assured that, although some of the prisoners were
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 35
to be saved, Lord Nithisdale would not be of the
number.
" When I inquired," she continues, " into the reason
of this distinction, I could obtain no other answer than
that they would not flatter me. But I soon perceived
the reasons, which they declined alleging me. A Ko-
man Catholic upon the frontiers of Scotland, who
headed a very considerable party, a man whose family
had always signalized itself by its loyalty to the royal
house of Stuart, would," she argued, "become a
very agreeable sacrifice to the opposite party. They
still," so thought Lady Nithisdale, " remembered the
defence of the castle of Carlaverock against the re-
publicans by Lord Nithisdale's grandfather, and were
resolved not to let his grandson escape from their
power."
Upon weighing all these considerations, Lady Nithis-
dale perceived that all hope of mercy was vain ; she
determined to dismiss all such dependance from her
mind, and to confide in her own efforts. It was not
impossible to bribe the guards who were set over the
state prisoners : indeed, from the number of escapes,
there must either have been a very venal spirit
among the people who had the charge of the pri-
soners generally, or a compassionate leaning in their
favour.
Having formed her resolution, Lady Nithisdale de-
cided to communicate it to no one, except to her " dear
Evans," a maid, or companion, who was of paramount
assistance to her in the whole affair.
D2
36 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
Meantime, public indications of compassion for the
condemned lords, seemed to offer better hopes than
the dangerous enterprise of effecting an escape.
On the eighteenth of February, orders were sent
both to the Lieutenant of the Tower and to the She-
riffs of London and Middlesex for the executions of the
rebel lords.* Great solicitations had, meantime, been
made for them, and the petitions for mercy not only
reached the Court, but came down to the two Houses
of Parliament, and being seconded by some members,
debates ensued. That in the Commons ended in a
motion for an adjournment, carried by a majority of
seven only, and intended to avoid any further inter-
position in that House. Many who used to vote with
the Government, influenced, says a contemporary writer,
by " the word mercy, voted with the contrary party."
In the House of Peers, however, the question being
put, whether the petitions should be received and
read, it was carried by a majority of nine or ten
voices.
But the sanguine hopes of those who were hanging
upon the decisions of the Lords for life or death, were
again cruelly disappointed. After reading the petitions,
the next question was, whether in case of an impeach-
ment, the King had power to reprieve 1 This was car-
ried by an affirmative, and followed by a motion to
address his Majesty, humbly to desire him to reprieve
the lords who lay under sentence of death. These
relentings, and the successive tides of feeling displayed
* Faithful Register, p. 84.
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 37
in this high assembly, prove how divided the higher
classes were on the points of hereditary monarchy,
and others also at issue ; but the Whig ascendancy
prevailed. There was a clause introduced into the
address, which nullified all former show of mercy ; and
the King was merely petitioned " to reprieve such of
the condemned lords as deserve his mercy; and that
the time of the respite should be left to his Majesty's
discretion." This clause was carried by five votes
only.
,To the address the following inauspicious answer
was returned from King George : " That on this, and
other occasions, he would do what he thought most
consistent with the dignity of his Crown, and the
safety of his people."
This struggle between the parties ended, says the
author of the Register, " in the execution of two of
these condemned lords, and the removal of some others
from their employments, that had been most solicitous
for their preservation.
The objects of this petty tyranny could well afford
to succumb under the workings of that mean and re-
vengeful spirit, whilst they might cherish the conviction
of having used their efforts in the true spirit of that
Christianity which remembers no considerations of
worldly interest, when opposed to duty. Lady Mthis-
dale's relation of this anxious and eventful day, the
twenty-third of February, is far too animated to be
changed in a single expression. She had refused to
remain confined with Lord Nithisdale in the Tower, on
88 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
the plea of infirm health ; but actually, because she
well knew that she could better aid his cause whilst
herself at liberty. She was then forbidden to see
her husband ; but by bribing the guards, she often
contrived to have secret interviews with him, until
the day before that on which the prisoners were
condemned.
" On the twenty-second of February, which fell on
a Thursday, our general petition was presented to the
House of Lords, the purport of which was to interest
the Lords to intercede with his Majesty to pardon the
prisoners. We were, however, disappointed. The day
before the petition was to be presented, the Duke of
St. Albans, who had promised my Lady Derwentwater
to present it, when it came to the point, failed in his
word. However, as she was the only English Countess
concerned, it was incumbent on her to have it pre-
sented. We had but one day left before the execution,
and the Duke still promised to present the petition ;
but for fear he should fail, I engaged the Duke of
Montrose to secure its being done by one or the other.
I then went in company with most of the ladies of
quality then in town, to solicit the interest of the
Lords as they were going to the House. They all
behaved to me with great civility, but particularly the
Earl of Pembroke, who, though he desired me not to
speak to him, yet he promised to employ his interest
in my favour, and honourably kept his word, for he
spoke very strongly in our behalf."*
* Faithful Register, p. 86.
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 39
" The subject of the debate was, whether the King
had the power to pardon those who had been con-
demned by Parliament : and it was chiefly owing to
Lord Pembroke's speech that it was carried in the
affirmative. However, one of the Lords stood up and
said that the House could only intercede for those who
should prove themselves worthy of their intercession,
but not for all of them indiscriminately. This salvo
quite blasted all my hopes, for I was assured that it
was aimed at the exclusion of those who should refuse
to subscribe to the petition, which was a thing I knew
my lord would never submit to ; nor, in fact, could I
wish to preserve his life on those terms. As the
motion had passed generally, I thought I could draw
from it some advantage in favour of my design. Ac-
cordingly I immediately left the House of Lords, and
hastened to the Tower, where, affecting an air of joy
and satisfaction, I told the guards I passed by, that I
came to bring joyful tidings to the prisoners. I de-
sired them to lay aside their fears, for the petition had
passed the House in their favour. I then gave them
some money to drink to the Lords and his Majesty,
though it was trifling ; for I thought if I were too
liberal on the occasion, they might suspect my designs,
and that giving them something would gain their good
will and services for the next day, which was the eve
of the execution."
On the following day Lady Nithisdale was too much
occupied in preparations for her scheme to visit the
Tower ; the evening of the eventful twenty-third of
40 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
February arrived ; and when all things were put in
readiness, this resolute and well-judging woman threw
herself upon the confidence of one in whose power she
was, to a certain degree, and whose co-operation she
could only secure by such a proceeding. She sent for
the landlady of the house in which she lodged, and
told her that she had made up her mind to effect Lord
Nithisdale's escape, since there was no chance of his
being pardoned. She added those few but thrilling
words : " This is the last night before his execution !"
While she spoke, perhaps, the condemned nobleman
was supplicating on his knees to God for that mercy
which was withheld by man. Imagination paints the
despondency of Lord Derwentwater ; the calm and
dignified sorrow of the justly pitied Kenmure.
Lady Mthisdale then made a request calculated to
alarm a woman of an ordinary character ; but she
seems to have understood the disposition of the person
whom she thus addressed.
" I told her that I had every thing in readiness,
and that I trusted she would not refuse to accompany
me, that my lord might pass for her. I pressed her to
come immediately, as we had no time to lose." This
sudden announcement, which a less sagacious mind
might have deemed injudicious, had the effect which
Lady Nithisdale expected ; the undertaking was one of
such risk, that it could only be an enterprise of im-
pulse, except to her whose affections were deeply in-
terested in the result. The consent of Mrs. Mills was
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 41
carried by storm, as well as that of another coadjutor,
a Mrs. Morgan, who usually bore the name of Hilton, to
whom Lady Nithisdale dispatched a messenger, begging
her to come immediately. " Their surprise and aston-
ishment," remarks Lady Nithisdale, speaking of these,
her two confidantes, " made them consent, without ever
thinking of the consequences." The scheme was, that
Mrs. Mills, who was tall and portly, should pass for
Lord Nithisdale; Mrs. Morgan was to carry concealed
the bundle of " clothes that were to serve Mrs. Mills
when she left her own behind her." After certain
other preparations, all managed with infinite dexterity
and shrewdness, these three heroines set out in a
coach for the Tower, into which they were to be
admitted, under the plea of taking a last leave of Lord
Nithisdale. Lady Nithisdale, even whilst her heart
throbbed with agitation, continued to support her
spirits. " When we were in the coach," she relates,
" I never ceased talking, that they her companions
might have no leisure to repent.
" On our arrival at the Tower, the first I introduced
was Mrs. Morgan (for I was only allowed to take in
one at a time). She brought in the clothes which were
to serve Mrs. Mills when she left her own behind her.
When Mrs. Morgan had taken off what she had brought
for my purpose, I conducted her back to the stair-
case ; and in going I begged her to send my maid to
dress me, that I was afraid of being too late to present
my last petition that night if she did not come im-
mediately. I dispatched her safe, and went partly
42 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
down stairs to meet Mrs. Mills, who had the precaution
to hold her handkerchief to her face, as is natural for
a woman to do when she is going to take her last
farewell of a friend on the eve of his execution. I
had indeed desired her to do so, that my lord might
go out in the same manner. Her eyebrows were rather
inclined to be sandy, and my lord's were very dark
and very thick. However, I had prepared some paint
of the colour of hers, to disguise his with ; I also
brought an artificial head-dress of the same coloured
hair as hers, and I painted his face and his cheeks
with rouge to hide his long beard, which he had not
had time to shave.
" All this provision I had before left in the Tower.
The poor guards, whom my slight liberality the day
before had endeared me to, let me go quietly out with
my company, and were not so strictly on the watch
as they usually had been ; and the more so, as they
were persuaded, from what I had told them the day
before, that the prisoners would obtain their pardon.
I made Mrs. Mills take off her own hood, and put
on that which I had brought for her. I then took
her by the hand and led her out of my lord's chamber ;
and in passing through the next room, in which were
several people, with all the concern imaginable I said,
' My dear Mrs. Catherine, go in all haste, and send
me my waiting-maid ; she certainly cannot reflect how
late it is. I am to present my petition to-night, and
if I let slip this opportunity I am undone, for to-
morrow is too late. Hasten her as much as possible,
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 43
for I shall be on thorns till she comes/ Everybody
in the room, who were chiefly the guards' wives and
daughters, seemed to compassionate me exceedingly,
and the sentinel officiously opened me the door.
When I had seen her safe out, I returned to my lord
and finished dressing him. I had taken care that
Mrs. Mills did not go out crying, as she came in,
that my lord might better pass for the lady who
came in crying and afflicted ; and the more so, as he
had the same dress that she wore. When I had
almost finished dressing my lord in all my petticoats
except one, I perceived it was growing dark, and was
afraid that the light of the candles might betray us,
so I resolved to set off. I went out leading him
by the hand, whilst he held his handkerchief to his
eyes. I spoke to him in the most piteous and af-
flicted tone, bewailing bitterly the negligence of Evans,
who had ruined me by her delay. Then I said, ' My
dear Mrs. Betty, for the love of God, run quickly and
bring her with you ; you know my lodging, and if you
ever made dispatch in your life, do it at present : I
am almost distracted with this disappointment.' The
guards opened the door, and I went down stairs with
him, still conjuring him to make all possible dispatch.
As soon as he had cleared the door I made him walk
before me, for fear the sentinel should take notice
of his walk, but I continued to press him to make all
the dispatch he possibly could. At the bottom of
the stairs I met my dear Evans, into whose hands
I confided him. I had before engaged Mr. Mills to
44 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
be in readiness before the Tower to conduct him to
some place of safety, in case we succeeded. He looked
upon the affair as so very improbable to succeed, that
his astonishment, when he saw us, threw him into
such a consternation that he was almost out of him-
self ; which Evans perceiving, with the greatest pre-
sence of mind, without telling him anything, lest he
should mistrust them, conducted him to some of her own
friends on whom she could rely, and so secured him,
without which we certainly should have been undone.
"When she had conducted him and left him with them,
she returned to Mr. Mills, who had by this time re-
covered himself from his astonishment. They went
home together ;-. and having found a place of security,
they conducted him to it. In the mean time, as I
had pretended to have sent the young lady on a
message, I was obliged to return up stairs and go
back to my lord's room in the same feigned anxiety
of being too late, so that everybody seemed sincerely
to sympathise in my distress. When I was in the
room, I talked as if he had been really present. I
answered my own questions in my lord's voice, as
nearly as I could imitate it. I walked up and down
as if we were conversing together, till I thought they
had time enough thoroughly to clear themselves of
the guards. I then thought proper to make off also.
I opened the door and stood half in it, that those in
the outward chamber might hear what I said, but
held it so close that they cold not look in. I bade my
lord formal farewell for the night, and added, that some-
EAUL OF NITHISDALE. 45
thing more than usual must have happened to make
Evans negligent on this important occasion, who had
always been so punctual in the smallest trifles, that
I saw no other remedy than to go in person. That if
the Tower was then open, when I had finished my
business, I would return that night ; but that he might
be assured I would be with him as early in the morn-
ing as I could gain admittance into the Tower, and
I flattered myself I should bring more favourable news.
Then, before I shut the door, I pulled through the
string of the latch, so that it could only be opened in
the inside.
" I then shut it with some degree of force, that
I might be sure of its being well shut. I said to
the servant as I passed by (who was ignorant of the
whole transaction), that he need not carry in candles
to his master till my lord sent for them, as he desired
to finish some prayers first." *
Thus ended this singular, successful, and heroic
scheme. It was now necessary that the devoted Lady
Nithisdale should secure her own safety.
She had, it seems, been bent upon proffering a last
petition to King George, in case her attempt had
failed. She drove home to her lodgings, where a
friend, named Mackenzie, waited to take her peti-
tion. " There is no need of a petition," were the
words that broke from the agitated woman ; " my
* Burke's History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland,
vol. i. p. 329.
46 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
lord is safe, and out of the Tower, and out of the
hands of his enemies, though I know not where he
is." Lady Nithisdale then discharged the coach which
had brought her to her lodgings, a precaution which
she always observed for fear of being traced, never
going in the same vehicle to more than one place.
She sent for a chair, and went to the Duchess of
Buccleugh, who had promised to present her petition,
having taken her precaution against all events. The
Duchess expected her, but had company with her ;
and Lady Nithisdale barely escaped being shown into
the room where her friend was with her company.
She, however, excused herself, and, sending a message
to her Grace, proceeded to the residence of the Duchess
of Montrose. " This lady had ever," said Lady Nithis-
dale, " borne a part in my distresses ;" she now left her
company to see and console the wife of the rebel
lord, of whom, she conjectured, Lady Nithisdale must
have taken, that night, a last farewell. As the two
friends met, the Duchess, to her astonishment, found
her visitor in a transport of joy ; " she was extremely
shocked and frightened," writes Lady Nithisdale ; " and
has since confessed to me that she thought my trou-
bles had driven me out of myself." She cautioned
Lady Nithisdale to secrecy, and even to flight ; for
the King had been extremely irritated by the pe-
tition already sent in by Lady Nithisdale. The ge-
nerous Duchess was, among those who frequented the
Court, the only person that knew Lady Nithisdale's
secret. After a brief interview, Lady Nithisdale, send-
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 47
ing for a fresh chair, hurried away to a house which
her faithful attendant Evans had found for her, and
where she was to learn tidings of Lord Nithisdale.
Here she learned that Lord Nithisdale had been re-
moved from the lodging to which he had at first
been conducted, to the mean abode of a poor woman
just opposite the guard-house. Here the former Lord
of Carlaverock and of Nithisdale met his wife. Lady
Nithisdale hurries over the meeting, but her simple
account has its own powers of description.
The good woman of the house had, it seems, but
one small room up a pair of stairs, and a very small
bed in it. " We threw ourselves on the bed that
we might not be heard walking up and down. She
left us a bottle of wine and some bread, and Mrs.
Mills brought us some more in her pockets the next
day. We subsisted on this provision from Thursday
till Saturday night, when Mr. Mills came and con-
ducted my lord to the Venetian Ambassador's. We
did not communicate the affair to his Excellency, but
one of the servants concealed him in his own room
till Wednesday, on which day the Ambassador's coach-
and-six was to go down to Dover to meet his brother.
My lord put on a livery, and went down in the
retinue, without the least suspicion, to Dover ; where
Mr. Michel (which was the name of the Ambassador's
servant) hired a small vessel, and immediately set sail
for Calais. The passage was so remarkably short,
that the captain threw out this reflection, that the
wind could not have served better if the passengers
48 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
had been flying for their lives, little thinking it to
be really the case.
" Mr. Michel might have easily returned without
suspicion of being concerned in my lord's escape ;
but my lord seemed inclined to have him with him,
which he did, and he has at present a good place
under our young master. This is an exact and as
full an account of this affair, and of the persons con-
cerned in it, as I could possibly give you, to the best
of my memory, and you may rely upon the truth of it.
For my part, I absconded to the house of a very honest
man in Drury Lane, where I remained till I was
assured of my lord's safe arrival on the Continent.
I then wrote to the Duchess of Buccleugh (everybody
thought till then that I was gone off with my lord)
to tell her that I understood I was suspected of having
contrived my lord's escape, as was very natural to
suppose ; that if I could have been happy enough to
have done it, I should be flattered to have the merit
of it attributed to me ; but that a bare suspicion with-
out proof, would never be a sufficient ground for my
being punished for a supposed offence, though it might
be motive sufficient for me to provide a place of se-
curity ; so I entreated her to procure leave for me to
go about my business. So far from granting my
request, they were resolved to secure me if possible.
After several debates, Mr. Solicitor-General, who was
an utter stranger to me, had the humanity to say,
that since I showed such respect to Government as
not to appear in public, it would be cruel to make
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 49
any search after me. Upon which it was resolved
that no further search should be made if I remained
concealed ; but that if I appeared either in England
or Scotland, I should be secured. But this was not
sufficient for me, unless I could submit to see my son
exposed to beggary. My lord sent for me up to
town in such haste, that I had not time to settle
anything before I left Scotland. I had in my hand
all the family papers, and I dared trust them to no-
body : my house might have been searched without
warning, consequently they were far from being se-
cure there. In this distress, I had the precaution to
bury them in the ground, and nobody but myself and
the gardener knew where they were. I did the same
with other things of value. The event proved that
I had acted prudently ; for after my departure they
searched the house, and God only knows what might
have transpired from those papers! All these cir-
cumstances rendered my presence absolutely necessary,
otherwise they might have been lost ; for though they
retained the highest preservation after one very severe
winter, (for when I took them up they were as dry as
if they came from the fire-side,) yet they could not
possibly have remained so much longer without pre-
judiced
Lord Nithisdale went to Rome, and never revisited
his native country; indeed, the project of the Rebellion
of 1 745, and the unceasing efforts and hopes by which
it was preceded on the part of the Jacobites, must
have rendered such a step impracticable to one who
VOL. II. E
50 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
seems to have been especially obnoxious to the house
of Hanover.
His escape, according to Lady Nithisdale, both
infuriated and alarmed George the First, " who flew
into an excessive passion," as she expresses it, on
the news transpiring ; and exclaimed that he was be-
trayed, and that it could not have been done without
a confederacy. He instantly dispatched messengers to
the Tower, to give orders that the prisoners who were
still there, might be the more effectually secured. He
never forgave Lady Nithisdale ; and the effects of his
powerful resentment were such, as eventually to drive
her for ever from England.
Inexperienced, young, a stranger in the vast me-
tropolis, Lady Nithisdale was now left alone, to skulk
from place to place that she might avoid the effects of
the royal displeasure. She absconded to the house of
an "honest man" in Drury Lane, where she remained
in concealment until she heard of her husband's safe
arrival on the Continent. A report, meantime, pre-
vailed of her having been the means of Lord Nithisdale's
escape ; and it was generally believed that she had
gone with him. To the surprise of the Duchess of
Buccleugh, LadyNithisdale one day appeared before her,
the object of that sudden and perhaps undesired visit
being to obtain, by the influence of the Duchess, leave
to quit London ; and to disseminate, through her
Grace, a belief that the safety of Lord Nithisdale was not
procured by his wife's means. It must have been one
of the most aggravating circumstances to that noble
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 51
and affectionate being, to have employed so much arti-
fice in the conduct of this affair; but, if ever artifice
be allowable, it is when opposed as a weapon to ty-
ranny. Besides, Lady Nithisdale had now not only her
own safety to consider ; she had to protect the interests
of her son.
Those whom she had mortally offended were eager
to punish her courage by imprisonment.
The Solicitor-General, however, showed a more com-
passionate spirit than his employers, and in the course
of several debates in the House of Commons, submitted
that if Lady Nithisdale paid so much respect to Govern-
ment as not to appear in public, it would be cruel to
make any farther search after her. It was therefore
decided that unless the lady were seen in England or
Scotland, she should be unmolested ; but if she were
observed in either of those countries, she should be
secured. This might be a decision of mercy, but Lady
Mthisdale could not submit to it, unless she left her
son's estate to be ruined by waste and plunder.
Hurried as she had been to London, she had found
time only to make one arrangement, which proved to
be of the utmost importance.
" I had in my hands," she relates, " all the family
papers, and dared trust them to nobody. My house
might have been searched without warning, conse-
quently they were far from being secure there. In
this distress I had the precaution to bury them in the
ground, and nobody but myself and the gardener knew
where they were : I did the same with other things
E 2
52 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
of value. The event proved that I had acted prudently
to save these papers."
Lady Nithisdale determined to return, at all risks, to
Scotland ; and it was, perhaps, from her care in con-
cealing the important documents to which she refers,
that the estates were not escheated. She soon put
into execution the heroic determination, of which
she made no boast. Her journey was full of perils ;
not only those incident to the time and season of
the year, but the great risk of being betrayed and
discovered. Little respect was paid, in that reign, when
truly the spirit of chivalry was extinguished, to the
weaker sex. Ladies, active and instrumental as they
were in political intrigues, if found out, were made
to pay the penalty of their dissaffection with hard im-
prisonment ; or, if at large, wandered from place to
place, conscious that the eye of the law pursued their
footsteps. Lady Seaforth, the wife of one of the rebel
lords, was reduced to necessity, even of the common
necessaries of life; and Lady Widdrington and her
children shared the same cruel privations.*
Believing herself, also, to be an object of peculiar dis-
like to George the First, Lady Mthisdale's courage in
braving the royal displeasure a second time, certainly
appears to border upon folly and a rash temerity. But
she knew well that if she could once reach the land of
the Maxwells, the strict respect paid to the head of the
clan, and the remarkable fidelity of all ranks of the
Scotch to those who trust to their honour, would
* See Letters and Petitions in the State Papers, No. iii. p. 1716.
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 53
there prove her safeguard. The great danger was in
making the journey. But the young heroic Countess
dismissed all fear from her mind, and prepared for her
enterprise.
" In short," she thus prefaces her narrative, " as I
had once exposed my life for the safety of the father, I
could not do less than hazard it once more for the
fortune of the son. I had never travelled on horse-
back but from York to London, as I told you ; but the
difficulties did not arise now from the severity of the
season, but the fear of being discovered and arrested.
To avoid this, I bought three saddle-horses, and set off
with my dear Evans and a very trusty servant, whom I
brought with me out of Scotland. We put up at all
the smallest inns on the road, that could take in a few
horses, and where I thought I was not known ; for I was
thoroughly known at all the considerable inns on the
northern road. Thus I arrived safe at Traquhair, where
I thought myself secure, for the lieutenant of the county
being a friend of my lord's, would not permit any search
to be made after me without sending me previous no-
tice to abscond. Here I had the assurance to rest my-
self two whole days, pretending that I was going to my
own house with leave from Government. I sent no
notice to my house, that the magistrates of Dumfries
might not make too narrow enquiries about me. So
they were ignorant of my arrival in the country till I
was at home, where I still feigned to have permission to
remain. To carry on the deceit the better, I sent to
all my neighbours and invited them to come to my
54 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
house. I took up my papers at night and sent them
off to Traquhair. It was a particular stroke of provi-
dence that I made the dispatch I did, for they soon
suspected me, and by a very favourable accident, one
of them was overheard to say to the magistrates of
Dumfries, that the next day they would insist on seeing
my leave from Government. This was bruited about,
and when I was told of it, I expressed my surprise that
they should be so backward in coming to pay their
respects ; ' but,' said I, ' better late than never : be
sure to tell them that they shall be welcome whenever
they choose to come.'
" This was after dinner, but I lost no time to put
everything in readiness with all possible secrecy ; and
the next morning before day-break, I set off again for
London with the same attendants, and, as before, put
up at the smallest inns and arrived safe once more." *
The report of her journey into Scotland had pre-
ceded Lady Mthisdale's return to London ; and, if
we may credit her assertions, which are stated with
so much candour as to impart a certain conviction
of their truthfulness, their King was irritated beyond
measure at the intelligence. Orders were immediately
issued for her arrest ; and the Monarch protested that
Lady Nithisdale did whatever she pleased in spite of
him ; that she had given him more trouble than any
other woman in Europe. Again driven into obscurity,
Lady Mthisdale took the opinion of a very celebrated
lawyer, whose name she does not specify, and, upon
* See Burke's Commoners, vol. i. p. 333.
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 55
his opinion, determined to retire to the Continent.
The reasons which her legal adviser assigned for this
counsel was, that although, in other circumstances, a
wife cannot be prosecuted for saving her husband,
yet in cases of high treason, according to the rigour
of the law, the head of a wife is responsible for that
of a husband. Since the King was so incensed against
Lady Nithisdale there could be no answering for the
consequences, and he therefore earnestly besought her
to leave the kingdom.
Lady Nithisdale, conscious of the wisdom of this
recommendation, and wearied, perhaps, of a life of
apprehension, determined to adopt the plan recom-
mended.
It is evident that she joined Lord Mthisdale at
Rome, whither he had retired ; for the statement
which she has left concludes in a manner which shows
that the devoted and heroic wife had been enabled
to rejoin the husband for whom she had encountered
so much anxiety, contumely, and peril. Her son, it
appears, also accompanied her, from her reference
to " our young Master," meaning the Master of Nithis-
dale ; since, when she wrote, the Prince Charles
Edward could not be endowed with that appellation,
his father being then alive. Her narrative is thus
concluded :*
" This is the full narrative of what you desired, and
of all the transactions which passed relative to this
affair. Nobody besides yourself could have obtained it
* See Burke's Commoners, vol. i. p. 334.
56 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
from me ; but the obligations I owe you, throw me
under the necessity of refusing you nothing that is in
my power to do. As this is for yourself alone, your
indulgence will excuse all the faults which must occur
in this long recital. The truth you may, however,
depend upon ; attend to that and overlook all de-
ficiencies. My lord desires you to be assured of his
sincere friendship. I am, with the strongest attach-
ment, my dear sister, yours most affectionately,
" WINIFRED NITHISDALE."
Little is known of the Earl of Nithisdale after his
escape to Rome, where he died in 1744. He thus
lived through a period of comparative quiet, till his
native country was again on the eve of being em-
broiled in a civil war, more replete with danger, sul-
lied by greater crimes, and more disastrous to his
native country, than the short-lived struggle of 1715.
An exile from his Scottish possessions, Lord Nithis-
dale possibly implanted in the mind of his own son
that yearning to establish the rights of the Stuarts
which appears not to have been eradicated from
the hearts of the Scottish Jacobites until their be-
loved and royal race had become lineally extinct.
The descendants of William, Earl of Nithisdale, have
never been able to ascertain where his Lordship is
buried. His noble and admirable wife died at Rome,
as well as her husband ; but her remains were brought
to this country, and they are deposited at Arundel
Castle.
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 57
John Maxwell, who assumed the title of Earl of
Mthisdale, appears to have remained absent from Scot-
land until the troubles of 1745 began. It was pro-
bably on the death of his father in 1744, that he
returned to take possession of the family estates, that
this, the representative of the family of Maxwell, ven-
tured to appear in Dumfriesshire.
The following correspondence which passed between
the Earl of Mthisdale, popularly so called, and his
friend, Mr. Craik, of Arbigland * in Dumfriesshire, is a
curious commentary upon the motives and reasons
which actuated the minds of the Jacobites in the
second attempt to re-establish the Stuart family. The
first letter from Mr. Craik is dated October the thir-
teenth, 1745, when Edinburgh Castle was blockaded by
Charles Edward, who was publishing his manifestoes
from the saloons of Holyrood House. The answer
from Lord Nithisdale is written in reply to one of
remonstrance addressed to him by his friend. There
is no date, but it is obviously written at Edinburgh.
The remonstrances from Mr. Craik were instantly
dispatched, to avert, if possible, any decided step on
the part of Lord Nithisdale. The arguments which
it contains shew the friendly intention of the earnest
writer. Lord Nithisdale had, in his former letter,
challenged his friend to assign his reasons for dis-
suading him from the enterprise.
* I am indebted to the present Mr. Craik, of Arbigland, for this cor-
respondence.
58 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
LETTER FROM MR. CRAIK TO LORD MTHISDALE.
"My waiting for a safe hand to convey this to
you has prevented my answering yours of the
thirteenth sooner. It must give me great pleasure
that you have not determined to engage in the present
enterprize, which from several apparent symptoms I
had reason to apprehend ; and if you stick by your
promise of doeing nothing rashly (fitt only for des-
perados indeed !) in a matter of such moment, I shall
be sett at ease from the anxiety I felt on your account.
" In mine which gave occasion to yours, I really had
no intention to enter into the merits of the cause : all
I meant was, to make experiment how far my interest
with you could prevail to keep you undetermined till
meeting, when I might promise myself more success in
reasoning upon the subject, than while you remained in
town, where the spirit of the place, the people you con-
verse with, the things you hear and see, all unite to in-
flame your passions and confound your understanding.
But since it has, beyond my intention, engaged you to
explain your sentiments at large, and to call upon you
to give my opinion, and since I suppose your arguments
contain all that can be said by those of the party who
would be thought to judge coolly and act reasonably at
this juncture, I shall, with the freedom and openness
of a friend, consider them as they lye before me in
yours ; and if I am forced -to exceed the limits of a
letter, you may blame yourself, who drew me in. You
tell me you are ready to believe ; I agree in opinion with
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 59
you, that as matters are come to this length, it's now
greatly to the interest of Scotland to wish success to the
undertaking, and that nothing but the improbability of
success should hinder every Scotsman to join in it.
This, tho' a verrie material point, you take for granted
without assigning a single reason ; but as I know it is
one of their delusive arguments, now much in use
where you are, and the chief engine of the party to
seduce well-meaning men to concur in the ruin of the
constitution and their country, I shall give you what
I apprehend you must mean by it in the most favour-
able light it will bear; and then from an impartial
stating of the fact as it truely stands, leave yourself to
judge how far an honest man, a wise one, and a lover
of his country, can justify either to himself or the
worlde, his being of this opinion. The meaning of
your argument I take to be this : that by the unac-
countable success of the enterprize and the tame sub-
mission of the people in general, if the scheme misgive
all Scotland becomes involved in the guilt, and may
expect the outmost severitys this Government and the
people of England can afflict them with ; but on the
other hand, should the undertaking be crowned with
success, as Scotesmen have the merit of it, they must
become the peculiar favourites of the family they have
raised to the throne, and reap all the advantages they
can promise themselves from a grateful and generous
prince. I hope I have done justice to your argument,
allow me allso to do justice to facts and truth.
" The people of Great Britain having found, from re-
60 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
peated experiments, how precarious their libertys were
in the hands of the princes who founded their title to
govern them in hereditary right, that however absurd
the pretence was in itself, no example could make them
forego a claim which so much flattered their ambition,
and upon which only, with any shew of reason, arbi-
trary power and tyranny can be built at last, de-
termined to secure (as far as human prudence can) the
possession of that inestimable blessing to themselves
and posterity by fixing the royal power in a family
whose only title should be the free choice of the people,
and who, should they attempt, would be restrained
from inslaving those they governed, and would not only
act most absurdly, but might reckon upon having the
same voice of the people against them.
" The maxims by which our hereditary princes con-
ducted themselves, were sufficiently felt to the sad ex-
perience of our forefathers; thank God we were reserved
for happier times ! History will inform you of their
repeated and unwearied attempts to subvert the con-
stitution and inslave a free people. Their sacrifizing
the interest of the nation to France, their violating
their oaths and promises, their persecutions and their
schemes to establish a religion which in its nature is
inconsistent with the toleration of any other, though
reasons of state may make it wink at this on particular
occasions, but should I descend to particulars, it would
lead me beyond the limites I have prescribed myself.
" The present family have now reigned over us these
thirty years, and though during so long a time they
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 61
may have fallen into errors, or may have committed
faults, (as what Government is without!) yett I will defy
the most sanguin zealot to find in history a period
equal to this in which Scotland possessed so uninter-
rupted a felicity, in which liberty, civil and religious,
was so universally enjoyed by all people of whatever
denomination nay, by the open and avowed ennemys
of the family and constitution, or a period in which all
ranks of men have been so effectually secured in their
property. Have not trade, manufactures, agriculture,
and the spirit of industry in our country, extended
themselves further during this period and under this
family than for ages before ? Has any man suffered in
his liberty, life, or fortune, contrary to law 1 'Stand forth
and name him if you can. Tho' the King's person, his
family, his government, and his ministers, have been
openly abused a thousand times in the most scurrilous
and reproachful terms, could it ever provoke him to
one arbitrary act or to violate those laws which he had
made the rule of his government \ Look into the
reigns of the James's and the Charles's, and tell me
wither these divine and hereditary princes were guided
by the same spirit of mildness and forgivness 1
" I am sensible how often and how many destructive
designs have been imputed to the prince upon the
throne and his ministers, of the cry raised against
standing armies, of the complaints of corruption, long
parliaments, and Hanoverian interest pursued in oppo-
sition to that of Britain; but I am allso sensible there is
not a true friend to liberty, a dispassionate and sober
62 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
man, but who (now the mask is laid aside) perceives
they were, at bottom, the artifices and popular pretences
of men struggling to force themselves into power, or of
those who in the dark were aiming the destruction of
our happy constitution.
" Men endued with popular talents, of figure and
fortune in the world, and without the advantages of ap-
parent disinterestedness on their side, will allways have
address enough, with a seeming plausibility, to pervert
every act of Government at home, and to defame and run
down every publick transaction abroad ; and disciples
will never be wanting of capacity and passions fitted
to become the dupes of such false apostles. The cor-
ruption complained of is but too universal, and it's to
be feared too deep-rooted to be cured ; it is the con-
stant attendant of peace and wealth ; and such is the
depravity of our natures, that these blessings cannot
be enjoyed without having this plague, the most sordid
and detestable of ?11 vices, accompanying them. But if
it is in our governours, it is also in the people, and
change your kings and ministers as often as you please,
whoever is in possession, or whoever is in quest of
power, will allways lay hold of the vices, the follys, or
the prejudices of mankind to exclude others from it or
to acquire it to themselves.
" It's to be hoped most people now perceive with
what views they were taught to exclaim against and
oppose a standing body of native and freeborn troops ;
but it is to be lamented their eyes were reserved to be
opened only by the greatest of all publick calamitys."
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 63
It appears, however, from the following letter of
Mr. Craik, that Lord Nithisdale was really implicated
in the insurrection :
"MY LORD,
" I am sincerely and deeply touched with your Lord-
ship's situation, and can honestly assure you it would
give me a real satisfaction could I any how contribute
to save you on this unhappy occasion. As you have
done me the honour to ask my opinion how you are to
conduct yourself, and as the Doctor has informed me
of the circumstances of your journey, I should but ill
deserve the character of humanity and good nature
you are pleased to give me, if I did not, with freedom
and candour, lay before you what, after this day
having fully considered it, appears to me most for
your honour, and the safty and preservation of your
life and family.
" It is certain the Habeas Corpus Act is suspended,
and I doubt not but as soon as the lenth you have
gone and your being returned is known above, warrants
will be issued to carrie you up to London ; if you
retire out of the kingdom, it will not prevent your
being attainted ; and I am afraid the unfortunate step
you have made will putt your estate but too much
within the reach of the law, and your family is undone.
If you stay till you are apprehended, not only your
estate, but your person is in the mercy of the Govern-
ment, and how far severitys on this occasion may be
carried, is not for me to prescribe ; only I am appre-
64 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
hensive your religion, quality, and estate, will make
you but too obnoxious to the Government, and when the
affair is over, informers will not be wanting to furnish
them with materials.
" We are not ignorant what arts and industry have
been employed to draw you out of the retirement and
quiet you were well disposed to remain in. We are
sensible you were imposed upon by those already em-
barked ; and it will acquit you before God and every
sober man, if you no longer keep measures with those
who have deceived you in a matter of such moment,
when your life and fortune were at stake. My lord, I
have impartially laid before you the present circum-
stance you are in, as far as my abilities enable me to
judge, that you may have it under your Lordship's
consideration ; I shall next take the freedom to sug-
gest what to me appears the safest and most prudent
part now left to you to act, and which I likeways sub-
mit to your Lordship's own judgment, without taking
upon me to decide. What I mean is this, that your Lord-
ship should, without loss of time, surrender your per-
son to the Governor of Carlisle, and acquaint him you
came to throw yourself upon the clemency of the Go-
vernment ; at the same time, your Lordship would, by
express, have some proper friend at London advised of
your intention, and one of some weight and interest,
and who was fitt to put your conduct in the most
favourable light. You will easily perceive that this con-
fidence in the Government, and voluntary surrender of
your person, and your preventing all others in an
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 65
early repentance must distinguish you, in the eyes of
the Government, from every other person who has em-
barked, and entitle you to its favour and .protection :
whereas, if you wait till you are apprehended, or leave
the kingdom, your case, tho' quite different, will be
ranked with those who have gone the greatest lengths.
If your Lordship approve of this, if you think proper
to lett me know by a line to-morrow, I shall not faill
to be in town on Tuesday ; and as I have a friend at
London who I know is very capable and well disposed
to serve you, if it be agreeable to you, shall, with the
Doctor, concert the letter proper to be sent."
The answer of Lord Nithisdale contains a curious
summary of some of the motives which actuated the
Jacobites of 1745.
LETTER FROM LORD NITHISDALE TO MR. CRAIK.
" DEAR SIR,
" I have both yours, giving your opinion on the
present affairs, without assigning your reasons, and as
I take it, urging an answer from me, whether I am
determined to take a share in the present enterprise,
which you seem to think I should not. I shall answer
the last first, by telling you that I have not yet fully
digested my thoughts on that matter ; only be assured
I'll do nothing rashly that's only for desperados.
As to the other, I'm ready to believe you agree in
opinion with me, that as matters are come this length,
it's now greatly the interest of Scotland to wish suc-
VOL. II. F
66 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
cess to the undertaking ; and that nothing but the im-
probability of success should hinder every Scotsman to
join in it; and indeed I don't think there's great
reason to fear that either, unless vast numbers of
foreign forces are poured into the country for support
of the party in possession.
" The Militia of England are little to be feared, nor
do I believe they'll be trusted with arms, as there's a
chance what way they may be used, particularly by
that part of the country who only know how to handle
them. As to the Dutch who are come over, there's now
greater reason to believe they'll be recalled, and it may
be some time before others are sent in their place, if at
all. I do believe the United States, if they dare, will
give all the support they can ; but if France shall really
prove in earnest, I imagine they'll consider it necessary
to be quiet. Other foreign forces may be sent in, but
on the other hand there's a very great improbability ;
thir people will likewise get aid, and here there's as-
sembling a very numerous resolute army. The pros-
pect of the situation of the country for some time to
come, must affect every well-wisher to it, and the con-
sequences to this part, if the undertaking shall misgive,
appear to me terrible ; if it succeed, what have we to
fear ? You'll answer, the introduction of Popery and
arbitrary government ; but I don't imagine, considering
the success and fate of his grandfather and uncle, that
will be attempted ; and as to any fear that we may be
made dependant and tributary to the foreign powers
giving aid to the present adventure, that Pm not appre-
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 67
hensive of, nor do I imagine it would be in his power
to accomplish, tho' inclinable to it. I shall say no
more on the subject ; only it's easier preventing an evil
than remedying, and that may be applyed to both
sides ; only this one further I observe, that I think it's
the interest of the nation to have a sovereign settled
whose title is unquestionable : we see the inconveni-
encys attending the other. You'll perhaps answer,
there will still be a Pretender ; but I reply, not so
dangerous an one, if at all. You write, in your letter,
that people may, without meaning, be treated and led
away with popular arguments. I assure you Fm none
of these what I have said now, is on a Sunday fore-
noon. However, I should wish you communicate my
mind to nobody. If any material news occur before the
bearer leave Edinburgh, you shall have them ; and to-
morrow 111 mind your commission, and any other you
shall give with respect to your nursery, &c., which I hope
you're still carrying on, and that your garden-wall is
now completed. If you had some pieces of cannon to
place in it, would it not keep out against an army not
provided with battering-pieces, seeing it's at a sufficient
distance from the thundering of any castle ? Were it
not for fear of your horses, I should wish you came in
here and saw the fortifications made on our city-wall,
and the army against which they were intended ; the
last is worth your while. No Court in Europe is filled
with such a set of well-look'd brave fellows.
" I hope my dykers are going on, and beg you'll
acquaint the tenants to have the rents ready, in regard
68 WILLIAM MAXWELL,
Fm to be soon in the country, and won't make any
stay above a day or two ; this to you, but to yourself
I can yet fix no time for coming out as I can't think
of leaving Edinburgh till I see how matters turn, and
it's also necessary to stay and take care of my house,
furniture, papers, &c. I believe I shall eat my Christ-
mas goose with you, if I don't go into England, which
I would incline for sake of a jaunt, if I thought it safe
and had a right set with me. I ever am, dear Sir,
Tour's &c."
Another letter from a kinsman of Lord Nithisdale's
shews that he was not alone in his inclination to join
in the Insurrection of 1745.
LETTER FROM MR. MAXWELL OF CARRUCHAtf.
" DR. WILLIE, " October isth.
" By accounts this day from Edinburgh, allmost
everybody is going along with the stream, so that a
short delay wou'd lose all the merit. This has deter-
mined me to do the thing so suddenly, that I have not
time to send for you, unless it were to see me go oif,
which is impossible. I depend upon your protection
for those I leave behind. What gives me the greatest
concern is least some such creditors as have still my
father's security, should molest him in my absence. I
recommend particularly to you, that if you can hear of
any, you'll endeavour to make them sensible that they
are as safe as before, and tell the comissary that I
expect the same piece of friendship from him, who lyes
EARL OF NITHISDALE. 69
more in the way of hearing what passes of that kind.
I believe there are three or four thousand Erench or
Irish landed in Wales, with Lord John Drummond.
The Highland army marches south the beginning of
the week. Farewell dear Willie. God bless you !
Ever your's (Signed) JA. MAXWELL."
" Saturday. I set out before daylight to-morrow."
From Mr. Maxwell of Carruchan, to Mr. Craik
of Arbigland.
Since Lord Nithisdale's name did not appear in the
list of the young Chevalier's officers, we must con-
clude that he did not persevere in his resolutions.
There is no date to Mr. Craik's second letter, but it
must have been written after Carlisle had surren-
dered to the Duke of Cumberland, an event which
took place on the thirtieth of December, 1745.
The Earl of Mthisdale, as he was styled, lived until
the year 1776, and possibly in peace and prosperity,
since the family estates were spared to him. He
married his first cousin, Lady Catherine Stewart,
daughter of the Earl of Traquhair by Lady Mary Max-
well, and left an only daughter.
This lady, named after her celebrated grandmother
Winifred, was also, by courtesy, endowed with the
honours of the forfeited rank, and styled Lady Wini-
fred Maxwell. Her Ladyship would have inherited
the Barony of Herries, of Terregles, but for the at-
tainder of her grandfather. The estates of Lord Nithis-
dale were inherited by her son, Marrnaduke William
70 WILLIAM MAXWELL, EARL OF NITHISDALE.
Constable, Esq., of Everingham Park, in the county of
York ; who, on the death of his mother, assumed, by
royal licence, the surname of Maxwell. The title of
Mthisdale, except for the attainder, would have de-
scended upon the next heir, Mr. Maxwell of Car-
ruchan.*
* I am indebted for some of these particulars to the courtesy of
William Constable Maxwell, Esq., present owner of Terregles, Carla-
verock, and also of the beautiful hereditary property of Lincluden.
71
WILLIAM GORDON, VISCOUNT KENMURE.
THE origin of the distinguished surname of Gordon is
not clearly ascertained : "some," says Douglass, " derive
the Gordons from a city of Macedonia, named Gordonia ;
others from a manor in Normandy called Gordon, pos-
sessed by a family of that name. The territory of Gor-
don in Berwickshire was, according to another account,
conferred by David the First upon an Anglo-Norman
settler, who assumed from it the name of Gordon.
William Gordon, sixth Earl of Kenmure, was de-
scended from a younger son of the ducal house of
Gordon ; in 1633 Sir John Gordon of Lochinvar was
created Viscount Kenmure and Lord of Lochinvar ;
and the estates continued in an unbroken line until
they descended to William, the sixth Viscount, who was
the only Scottish peer in 1715 who suffered capital
punishment.
This unfortunate nobleman succeeded his father in
1698; and possessed, up to the period of his taking
the command of the army in the south, the estates
belonging to his family in the Stuartry of Kirkcud-
bright. Kenmure Castle, still happily enjoyed by the
family of Gordon, stands upon an eminence overlooking
the meadows, at that point where the river Ken ex-
72 WILLIAM GORDON,
pands into a lake. The Castle was originally a single
tower, to which various additions have been made
according to the taste of different owners. The Castle
Keep is now ruinous and unroofed, but the body of
the house is in good repair. A fine prospect over
the scenery of the Glenhens is commanded by the
eminence on which the castle stands. An ancient
avenue of lime-trees constitutes the approach to the
fortress from the road.
In this abode dwelt the Viscount Kenmure until
the summons of Lord Mar called him from the serene
tenour of a course honoured by others, and peaceful
from the tranquillity of the unhappy nobleman's own
disposition ; for his was not the restless ambition of
Mar, nor the blind devotion of the Duke of Perth ; nor
the passion for fame and ascendancy which stimulated
Lord George Murray in his exertions. Lord Kenmure
was, it is true, well acquainted with public business,
and an adept in the affairs of the political world, in
which he had obtained that insight which long ex-
perience gives. His acquaintance with books and men
was said to be considerable ; he is allowed, even by
one who had deserted the party which Lord Kenmure
espoused, to be of a " very extraordinary knowledge."*
But his calm, reflective mind, his experience, his re-
sources of learning, rather indisposed than inclined
this nobleman from rising when called upon to lend his
aid to the perilous enterprise of James Stuart. Be-
loved in private life, of a singularly good temper, calm,
* Patten, p. 52
VISCOUNT KENMURE. 73
mild, of simple habits, and plain in his attire, he was
as it was generally observed, the last man whom one
might have expected to rush into the schemes of the
Jacobite party.
That one so skilled in human affairs should venture,
even in a subordinate degree, to espouse so desperate
a cause as that of James was generally reputed to be,
might seem to prove that even the wise were sanguine,
or that they were carried away by the enthusiasm of the
hour. Neither of these circumstances appear to bear
any considerable weight in revolving the conduct of
Lord Kenmure.
A stronger influence, perhaps, than that of loyalty
operated on the conduct of Yiscount Kenmure. He
was married : his wife, the spirited and energetic Mary
Dalzell, was the only sister of Robert, sixth Earl of
Carnwath. Her family were deeply imbued with the
principles of hereditary right and of passive obedience ;
and Lady Kenmure cherished these sentiments, and
bestowed the energies of her active mind on the pro-
motion of that cause which she held sacred. The
house of Dalzell had been sufferers in the service of
the Stuarts. By her mother's side, Lady Kenmure
was connected with Sir William Murray of Stanhope,
and with his singular, and yet accomplished son, Sir
Alexander Murray of Stanhope, who was taken prisoner
at Preston, fighting for the Jacobites. The Earl of
Carnwath, Lady Kenmure's brother, was one of those
men whose virtues and acquirements successfully re-
commend a cause to all who are under the influence
74 WILLIAM GORDON,
of such a character. Having been educated at Cain-
bridge, he had imbibed an early affection for the
liturgy of the Church of England ; his gentle man-
ners, his talents, and his natural eloquence, established
him in the affections of his friends and acquaintance.
This nobleman was, like his sister, ready to sacrifice
everything for conscience sake : like her, he was a
sufferer for that which he esteemed to be justice. He
was afterwards taken prisoner at Preston, impeached
before the House of Peers in 1716, and sentenced to
be executed as a traitor, and his estate forfeited ;
but eventually he was respited and pardoned. He
survived to be four times married.
Another of Lady Kenmure's brothers, John Dalzell,
was, it is true, a captain in the army upon the break-
ing out of the Rebellion in 1715 ; but, at the sum-
mons of him whom he esteemed his lawful Sovereign,
he threw up his commission, and engaged in the service
of James.
When Lord Kenrnure received a commission from
the Earl of Mar to head the friends of the Chevalier in
the South, he had ties which perhaps were among
some of the considerations which led him to hesitate
and to accept the proffered honour unwillingly. On his
trial he referred to his wife and " four small children/'
as a plea for mercy. But Lady Kenmure, sanguine
and resolute, did not view these little dependent beings
as obstacles to a participation in the insurrection. If
she might be considered to transgress her duty as a
mother, in thus risking the fortunes of her children,
VISCOUNT KENMURE. 75
she afterwards compensated by her energy and self-
denial for her early error of judgment.
It had been arranged that the insurrection in Dum-
friesshire was to break out in conjunction with that
headed in Northumberland by Mr. Forster. To effect
this end, numbers of disaffected, or, as the Jacobite
writers call them, well-affected noblemen and gentle-
men assembled in parties at the houses of their friends,
moving about from place to place, in order to prepare
for the event.
It was on the twelfth of October, 1715, that Vis-
count Kenmure set out in the intention of joining
the Earl of Wintoun, who was on his road to Moffat,
and who was accompanied by a party of Lothian gen-
tlemen and their servants. It is said by the de-
scendants of Viscount Kenmure, on hearsay, that his
Lordship's horse three times refused to go forward
on that eventful morning ; nor could he be impelled
to do so, until Lady Kenmure taking off her apron,
and throwing it over the horse's eyes, the animal
was led forward. The Earl of Carnwath had joined
with Lord Kenmure, and rode forwards with him to
the rencontre with Lord Wintoun. Lord Kenmure
took with him three hundred men to the field. *
At the siege of Preston, in which those who fell
dead upon the field were less to be compassionated
than the survivors, Lord Kenmure was taken pri-
soner. His brother-in-law, the Earl of Carnwath,
shared the same fate. They were sent with the prin-
* Patten. Reay.
76 WILLIAM GORDON,
cipal state prisoners to London. The same circum-
stances, the same indignities, attended the removal of
Lord Kenmure to his last earthly abode, as those which
have been already related as disgracing the humanity
of Englishmen, when the Earl of Derwentwater was
carried to the Tower.
The subsequent sufferings of these brave men were
aggravated by the abuses which then existed in the
state prisons of England. The condition of these re-
ceptacles of woe, at that period, beggars all descrip-
tion. Corruption and extortion gave every advantage
to those who could command money enough to pur-
chase luxuries at an enormous cost. Oppression and
an utter carelessness of the well-being of the captive,
pressed hardly upon those who were poor. No an-
nals can convey a more heartrending description of
the sufferings of the prisoners confined in county
gaols, than their own touching and heartfelt appeals,
some of which are to be found in the State Paper
Office.
In the Tower, especially, it appears from a diary
kept by a gentleman who was confined there, that the
greatest extortion was openly practised. Mr. Forster
and a Mr. Anderton, who were allowed to live in the
Governor's house, were charged the sum of five pounds
a- week for their lodging and diet, a demand which,
more than a century ago, was deemed enormous. Se-
veral of the Highland chiefs, and among them the
celebrated Brigadier Mackintosh, were " clapped up in
places of less accommodation, for which, nevertheless,
VISCOUNT KENMURE. 77
they were charged as much as would have almost
paid the rent of the best houses in St. James's Square
and Piccadilly." Mr. Forster, it must be added, was
obliged to pay sixty guineas for his privilege of living
in the governor's house ; and Mr. Anderton to give
a bribe of twenty-five guineas for having his irons
off. A similar tax was made upon every one who
entered, and who could pay, and they were thankful
to proffer the sum of twenty guineas, the usual de-
mand, to be free from irons. It was, indeed, not
the mere freedom from chains for which they paid,
but for the power of effecting their escape. Upon
every one who did not choose to be turned over to
the common side, a demand was made of ten guineas
fee, besides two guineas weekly for lodging, although
in some rooms men lay four in a bed. Presents
were also given privately, so that in three or four
months' time, three or four thousand pounds were
paid by the prisoners to their jailers.
Many of the prisoners being men of fortune, their
tables were of the most luxurious description ; forty
shillings was often paid for a dish of peas and beans,
and thirty shillings for a dish of fish ; and this fare, so
unlike that of imprisonment, was accompanied by the
richest French wines. The vicious excesses and in-
decorums which went on in the Tower, among the
state prisoners, are said to have scandalized the graver
lookers on."* The subsequent distress and misery
* " Secret History of the Rebels in Newgate ;" a scarce Sixpenny
Tract, in the British Museum. Third Edition.
78 WILLIAM GORDON,
which ensued may, of course, be traced, in part,
to this cause.
Lord Derwentwater, ever decorous and elevated in
his deportment, was shocked at the wayward and reck-
less conduct of some of the Jacobites on their road to
London, told one of the King's officers at Barnet,
that these' prisoners " were only fit for Bedlam."
To this it was remarked, that they were only fit for
Bridewell. Whilst hopes of life continued, this re-
buke still applied. The prisoners were aided in their
excesses by the enthusiasm of the fair sex. The fol-
lowing extract from another obscure work, " The His-
tory of the Press-yard," is too curious to be omitted.
" That while they [the prisoners] flattered themselves
with hopes of life, which they were made to believe
were the necessary consequences of a surrender at
discretion, they did, without any retrospect to the
crimes they were committed for, live in so profuse a
manner, and fared so voluptuously, through the means
of daily visitants and helps from abroad, that money
circulated very plentifully ; and while it was difficult
to change a guinea almost at any house in the street,
nothing was more easy than to have silver for gold
to any quantity, and gold for silver, in the prison,
those of the fair sex, from persons of the first rank to
tradesmen's wives and daughters, making a sacrifice
of their husbands' and parents' rings, and other pre-
cious moveables, for the use of those prisoners ; so
that, till the trial of the condemned lords was over,
and that the Earl of Derwentwater and Viscount
VISCOUNT KENMURE. 79
Kenmure were beheaded, there was scarce anything
to be seen amongst them but flaunting apparel, veni-
son pasties, hams, chickens, and other costly meats,
with plenty of wine."
Meantime the trial of the attainted lords took place,
and checked, like the sudden appearance of a ghostly
apparition, this horrible merriment, with which,
however, few names which one desires to cherish and
to respect are connected. The same forms that at-
tended the impeachment and trial of his companions,
were carried on at the trial of Lord Kenmure. The
unhappy nobleman replied in few and touching words,
and, in a voice which could not be heard, pleaded
guilty ; an inconsistency, to express it in the mildest
terms, of which he afterwards sincerely repented.
At the end of the trial, to the question "What
have you to say for yourself why judgment should not
be passed upon you according to law 1" " My lords,"
replied Lord Kenmure, " I am truly sensible of my
crime, and want words to express my repentance.
God knows I never had any personal prejudice against
his Majesty, nor was I ever accessory to any pre-
vious design against him. I humbly beg my noble
Peers and the honourable House of Commons to
intercede with the King for mercy to me, that I
may live to show myself the dutifullest of his subjects,
and to be the means to keep my wife and four small
children from starving ; the thoughts of which, with
my crime, makes me the most unfortunate of all
gentlemen."
80 WILLIAM GORDON,
After the trial, great intercessions were made for
mercy, but without any avail, as far as Lord Derwent-
water and Lord Keninure were concerned. They were
ordered for execution on the 24th of February, 1716.
The intelligence of the condemnation of these two
lords, produced the greatest dismay among their fellow
sufferers in the Tower ; and the notion of escape, a
project which was singularly successful in some in-
stances, was resorted to, in the despair and anguish of
the moment, by those who dreaded a cruel and igno-
minious death.
Lord Kenmure, meantime, prepared for death. A
very short interval was, indeed, allowed for those mo-
mentous considerations which his situation induced.
He was sentenced on the ninth of February, and in a
fortnight afterwards was to suffer. Yet the execution
of that sentence was, it seems, scarcely expected by
the sufferer, even when the fatal day arrived.
The night before his execution, Lord Kenmure wrote
a long and affecting letter to a nobleman who had
visited him in prison a few days previously. There is
something deeply mournful in the fate of one who had
slowly and unwillingly taken up the command which
had ensured to him the severest penalties of the law.
There is an inexpressibly painful sentiment of com-
passion and regret, excited by the yearning to live
the allusion to a reprieve the allusion to the case of
Lord Carnwath as affording more of hope than his
own lastly, to what he cautiously calls "an act of
indiscretion," the plea of guilty, which was wrung
VISCOUNT KENMURE. 81
from this conscientious, but sorrowing man, by a fond
value for life and for the living. So little did Lord
Kenmure anticipate his doom, that, when he was sum-
moned to the scaffold the following day, he had not
even prepared a black suit, a circumstance which he
much regretted, since he " might be said to have died
with more decency."
The following is the letter which he wrote, and
which he addressed to a certain nobleman.
" MY VERY GOOD LORD,
" Your Lordship has interested yourself so far in
mine, and the lords, my fellow prisoners' behalf, that
I should be the greatest criminal now breathing, should
I, whether the result of your generous intercession be
life or death, be neglectful of paying my acknowledg-
ments for that act of compassion.
"We have already discoursed of the motives that
induced me to take arms against the Prince now in
possession of the throne, when you did me the honour
of a visit three days since in my prison here ; I shall
therefore wave that point, and lament my unhappiness
for joining in the rest of the lords in pleading guilty,
in the hopes of that mercy, which the Generals Wills
and Carpenter will do us the justice to say was pro-
mised us by both of them. Mr. Piggot and Mr. Eyres,
the two lawyers employed by us, advised us to this
plea, the avoiding of which might have given us fur-
ther time for looking after the concerns of another
life, though it had ended in the same sentence of losing
VOL. II. G
82 WILLIAM GORDON,
this which we now lie under. Thanks be to the
Divine Majesty, to whose infinite mercy as King of
Kings, I recommend myself in hopes of forgiveness, tho" 1
it shall be my fate to fail of it here on earth. Had
the House of Commons thought fit to have received our
petition with the same candour as yours has done, and
recommended us to the Prince, we might have enter-
tained some hopes of life ; but the answer from St. James's
is such as to make us have little or no thoughts of it.
" Under these dismal apprehensions, then, of approach-
ing dissolution, which, I thank my God for his holy
guidance, I have made due preparation for, give me
leave to tell you, that howsoever I have been censured
on account of the family of the Gordons, which I am
an unhappy branch of, that I have ever lived and will
die in the profession of the Protestant religion, and
that I abhor all king-killing doctrines that are taught
by the church of Rome as dangerous and absurd. And
though I have joined with some that have taken arms,
of that persuasion, no other motive but that of exer-
cising to the person called the Pretender, whom I
firmly believe to be the son of the late King James the
Second, and in defence of whose title I am now going
to be a sacrifice, has induced me to it. Your Lord-
ship will remember the papers I have left with you,
and deliver them to my son. They may be of use to
his future conduct in life, when these eyes of mine are
closed in death, which I could have wished might have
stolen upon me in the ordinary course of nature, and
not by the hand of the executioner. But as my
VISCOUNT KENMURE. 83
blessed Saviour and Redeemer suffered an ignominious
and cruel death, and the Son of God, made flesh, did
not disdain to have his feet nailed to the Cross for the
sins of the world ; so may I, poor miserable sinner, as
far as human nature will allow, patiently bear with the
hands of violence, that I expect suddenly to be stretched
out against me.
" Your Lordship will also, provided there is no
hopes of a reprieve this night, make me acquainted
with it as soon as possible, that I may meet that
fate with readiness which, in a state of uncertainty,
I expect with uneasiness. I must also be pressing
with your Lordship that if, in case of death, any
paper under my name should come out as pretended
to have been written by me, in the manner or form of
a speech, you will not believe it to be genuine ; for I,
that am heartily sorry for disowning my principles
in one spoken before your Lordship and the rest of
my peers, will never add to that act of indiscretion
by saying anything on the scaffold but my prayers
for the forgiveness of my poor self and those that
have brought me to be a spectacle to men and angels,
especially since I must speak in my last moments
according to the dictates of my conscience, and not
prevaricate as I did before the Lords, for which I
take shame to myself. And such a method of pro-
ceeding might do injury to my brother Carnwath,
who, I am told, is in a much fairer way than I am
of not being excluded from grace. I have nothing
farther than to implore your Lordships to charge your
G 2
84 WILLIAM GORDON,
memory with the recommendations I gave you to my
wife and children, beseeching God that he will so
sanctify their afflictions, that after the pains and
terrors of this mortal life they may with me be trans-
lated to the regions of everlasting joy and happiness,
to which blessed state of immortality your Lordship
shall also, while I am living, be recommended in the
prayers of, my very good Lord, your most affec-
tionate kinsman, KENMURE."
" From my prison, in the Tower of London, Feb. 23, 1715."
The following paper, the original of which is still in
the hands of his descendants, was written by Lord
Kenmure the night before his execution :
" It having pleased the Almighty God to call me
now to suffer a violent death, I adore the Divine
Majesty, and cheerfully resign my soul and body to
His hands, whose mercy is over all His works. It is
my very great comfort that He has enabled me to
hope, through the merits and by the blood of Jesus
Christ, He will so purifie me how that I perish not
eternally. I die a Protestant of the Church of Eng-
land, and do from my heart forgive all my enemies. I
thank God I cannot accuse my selfe of the sin of rebel-
lion, however some people may by a mistaken notion
think me guilty of it for all I did upon a laite occasione ;
and my only desire ever was to contribute my small
endeavour towards the re-establishing my rightfull So-
vereigne and the constitutione of my countrie to ther
divine rights and loyall setlment ; and by pleading
VISCOUNT KENMURE. 85
guilty I meant no more then ane acknowledgment of
my having been in armes, and (not being bred to the
law) had no notion of my therby giving my assent
to any other thing contained in that charge. I take
God to wittnes, before whom I am very soon to
apear, that I never had any desire to favour or to
introduce Popery, and I have been all along fully
satisfied that the King has given all the morall
security for the Church of England that is possible
for him in his circumstances. I owne I submitted my-
selfe to the Duck of Brunswick, justly expecting that
humantity would have induced him to give me my life,
which if he had done I was resolved for the future to
have lived peaceably, and to have still reteaned a great-
full remembrance of so 'greatt a favour, and I am satisfied
the King would never have desired me to have been
in action for him after; but the caice is otherways.
I pray God forgive those who thirst after blood. Had
we been all putt to the sword immediatly upon our
surrender, that might have born the construction of
being don in the heatt and fury of passion ; but now
I am to die in cold blood, I pray God it be not im-
puted to them. May Almighty God restore injured
right, and peace, and truth, and may He in mercy
receave my soull. KENMURE." *
It was decreed that the Earl of Derwentwater and
the Yiscount Kenmure should suffer on the same
* For this interesting paper I am indebted to the Hon. Mrs.
Bellamy, sister of the present and niece of the late Viscount Kenmure,
86 WILLIAM GORDON,
day. On the morning of the twenty-fourth of Fe-
bruary, at ten o'clock, these noblemen were conducted
to the Transport Office on Tower Hill, where they
had separate rooms for their private devotions, and
where such friends as desired to be admitted to them
could take a last farewell. It had been settled that
the Earl of Nithisdale should also suffer at the same
time, but during the previous night he had escaped.
Whether the condemned lords, who were so soon
to exchange life for immortality, were made aware
of that event or not, has not transpired. What must
have been their emotions, supposing that they were
conscious that one who had shared their prison, was
likely to be restored to his liberty and to his family !
Lord Kenmure conducted himself with a manly
composure and courage during this last trial of his
submission and fortitude. His reserve, however, on
the scaffold was remarkable. It proceeded from a
fear, incidental to a conscientious mind, of saying
anything inconsistent with his loyalty and principles ;
and from an apprehension, natural in the dying hus-
band and father, of injuring the welfare of those
whom he was to leave at the mercy of Government.
Lord Derwentwater suffered first : his last ejacu-
lation, " Sweet Jesus be merciful unto me ! " was cut
short by the executioner severing his head from his
body. Then, after the body and the head had been
carried away, the scaffold was decently cleared, and
fresh baize laid upon the block, and saw- dust strewed,
that none of the blood might appear to shock the
VISCOUNT KENMURE. 87
unhappy man who was to succeed the young and
gallant Derwentwater in that tragic scene.
Lord Kenmure then advanced. He was formally
delivered from the hands of one sheriff to those of
the other, who had continued on the stage on which
the scaffold was erected all the time, and who then
addressed the condemned man. The first question
related to the presence of clergy, and of other friends ;
and Lord Kenmure stated, in reply, that he had the
assistance of two clergymen, and desired the presence
of some friends who were below. These persons were
then called up, and Lord Kenmure retired with his
friends and the two clergymen to the south side of
the stage, where they joined in penitential prayers,
some of them written for the occasion, and others
out of a printed book, not improbably the Book of
Common Prayer, since Lord Kenmure was a Protes-
tant and an Episcopalian. Lord Kenmure employ-
ed himself for some time in private supplications ;
and afterwards a clergyman, in a prayer, recommended
the dying man to the mercy of God. A requiem
completed the devotions of the unfortunate Kenmure.
Sir John Fryer, one of the sheriffs, then inquired
if his Lordship had had sufficient time ; and expressed
his willingness to wait as long as Lord Kenmure
wished. He also requested to know if Lord Ken-
mure had anything to say in private ; to these ques-
tions a negative was returned.
The executioner now came forward. Lord Ken-
mure was accompanied by an undertaker, to whom
88 WILLIAM GORDON,
the care of his body was to be entrusted ; he was also-
attended by a surgeon, who directed the executioner
how to perform his office, by drawing his finger over
that part of the neck where the blow was to be given.
Lord Kenmure then kissed the officers and gentlemen
on the scaffold, some of them twice and thrice ; and
being again asked if he had anything to say, answered,
" No." He had specified the Chevalier St. George in
his prayers, and he now repeated his repentance for
having pleaded guilty at his trial. He turned to
the executioner, who, according to the usual form,
asked forgiveness. " My Lord," said the man, " what
I do, is to serve the nation ; do you forgive me ?"
" I do," replied Lord Kenmure ; and he placed the
sum of eight guineas in the hands of the headsman.
The final preparations were instantly made. Lord
Kenmure pulled off, unassisted, his coat and waistcoat :
one of his friends put a white linen cap on his head ;
and the executioner turned down the collar of his
shirt, in order to avoid all obstacles -to the fatal
stroke. Then the executioner said, " My Lord, will
you be pleased to try the block ?" Lord Kenmure,
in reply, laid down his head on the block, and spread
forth his hands. The headsman instantly performed
his office. The usual words, " This is the head of a
traitor I" were heard as the executioner displayed the
streaming and ghastly sight to the multitude.
The body of Lord Kenmure, after being first de-
posited at an undertaker's in Fleet Street, was carried
to Scotland, and there buried among his ancestors.
VISCOUNT KENMURE. 89
A letter was found in his pocket addressed to the
Chevalier, recommending to him the care of his chil-
dren ; but it was suppressed.*
Thus died one of those men, whose honour, had his
life been spared, might have been trusted never again
to enter into any scheme injurious to the reigning
Government ; and whose death inspires, perhaps, more
unmitigated regret than that of any of the Jacobite
lords. Lord Kenmure's short-lived authority was
sullied by no act of cruelty ; and his last hours were
those of a pious, resigned, courageous Christian. He
was thrust into a situation as commander in the South,
peculiarly unfitted for his mild, reserved, and modest
disposition : and he was thus carried away from that
private sphere which he was calculated to adorn, f
After her husband's death, the energies of Lady
Kenmure were directed to secure the estates of Ken-
mure to her eldest son. She instantly posted down to
Scotland, and reached Kenmure Castle in time to se-
cure the most valuable papers. When the estates were
put up for sale, she contrived, with the assistance of
her friends, to raise money enough to purchase them ;
and lived so carefully as to be able to deliver them
over to her son, clear of all debt, when he came of age.
Four children were left dependent upon her exertions
and maternal protection. Of these Robert, the eldest,
died in 1741, unmarried, in his twenty-eighth year.
* Faithful Register of the late Rebellion, p. 93 ; also State Trials.
f The impression on the minds of Lord Kenmure's descendants is,
that he was by no means a man of feeble character, but one of great
fortitude and resolution.
90 WILLIAM GORDON,
James also died unmarried. Harriet, the only daughter,
was married to her mother's cousin-german, Captain
James Dalzell, uncle of Robert Earl of Carnwath.
John Gordon, the second and only surviving son of
Lord Kenmure, married, in 1744, the Lady Frances
Mackenzie, daughter of the Earl of Seaforth ; and from
this marriage is descended the present Viscount Ken-
mure, to whom the estate was restored in 1824.
Lady Kenmure survived her husband sixty-one years.
In 1747, she appears to have resided in Paris, where,
after the commotions of 1745, she probably took refuge.
Here, aged as she must have been, the spirit of justice,
and the love of consistency were shewn in an anecdote
related of her by Drummond of Bochaldy, who was
mingled up in the cabals of the melancholy Court of
St. Germains. It had become the fashion among
Prince Charles's sycophants and favourites, to declare
that it was not for the interest of the party that there
should be any restoration while King James lived ;
this idea was diligently circulated by Kelly, a man de-
scribed by Drummond as full of trick, falsehood, deceit,
and imposition ; and joined to these, having qualities
that make up a thorough sycophant.
It was Kelly's fashion to toast the Prince in all
companies first, and declare that the King could not last
long. At one of the entertainments, which he daily
frequented, at the house of Lady Redmond, the dinner,
which usually took place at noon, being later than
usual, Lady Kenmure, in making an afternoon's visit,
came in before dinner was over. She was soon sur-
VISCOUNT KENMURE. 91
prised and shocked to hear the company drinking the
Prince's health without mentioning the King's. " Lady
Kenmure," adds Drummond, " could not bear it, and
said it was new to her to see people forget the duty
due to the King." Kelly immediately answered,
" Madam, you are old fashioned ; these fashions are out
of date." She said that she really was old fashioned,
and hoped God would preserve her always sense and
duty enough to continue so ; on which she took a glass
and said "God preserve our King, and grant him long
life, and a happy reign over us !""*
Lady Kenmure died on the 16th of August, 1776,
at Terregles, in Dumfriesshire, the seat of the Nithis-
dale family.
* Memoirs of Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel, p. 284. Presented to
the Abbotsford Club.
92 WILLIAM MURRAY,
WILLIAM MURRAY, MARQUIS OF
TULLIBARDINE.
AMONG the nobility who hastened to the hunting-
field of Braemar, was William Marquis of Tullibardine
and eldest son of the first Duke of Athole.
The origin of the powerful family of Murray com-
mences with Sir William De Moraira, who was Sheriff
in Perth in 1222, in the beginning of the reign of
King Alexander the Second. The lands of Tullibar-
dine were obtained by the Knight in 1282, by
his marriage with Adda, the daughter of Malise,
Seneschal of Stratherio. After the death of William
De Moraira, the name of this famous house merged
into that of Murray, and its chieftains were for
several centuries known by the appellation of Murray
of Tullibardine. It was not until the seventeenth cen-
tury that the family of Murray was ennobled, when
James the Sixth created Sir John Murray Earl of
Tullibardine.
The unfortunate subject of this memoir was the son
of one of the most zealous promoters of the Revolution
of 1688. His father, nearly connected in blood with
William the Third, was appointed to the command
of a Regiment by that Monarch, and entrusted with
MARQUIS OF TULLIBARDINE. 93
several posts of great importance, which he retained
in the time of Queen Anne, until a plot was
formed to ruin him by Lord Lovat, who endeavoured
to implicate the Duke in the affair commonly known
by the name of the Queensbury plot. The Duke of
Athole courted inquiry upon that occasion ; but the
business having been dropped without investigation, he
resigned the office of Privy Seal, which he then held,
and became a warm opponent of the Act of Union
which was introduced into Parliament in 1705.
After this event the Duke of Athole retired to
Perthshire, and there lived in great magnificence until,
upon the Tories coming into power, he was chosen one
of the representatives of the Scottish peerage in 1710,
and afterwards a second time constituted Lord Privy
Seal.
It is singular that, beholding his father thus cherish-
ed by Government, the Marquis of Tullibardine should
have adopted the cause of the Chevalier : and not, as
it appears, from a momentary caprice, but, if we take
into consideration the conduct of his whole life, from a
fixed and unalienable conviction. At the time of the
first Rebellion, the Marquis was twenty-seven years of
age ; he may therefore be presumed to have been
nature in judgment, and to have passed over the age of
wild enthusiasm. The impulses of fanaticism had no
influence in promoting the adoption of a party to
which an Episcopalian as well as a Roman Catholic
might probably be peculiarly disposed. Lord Tullibar-
dine had been brought up a Presbyterian ; his father
94 WILLIAM MURRAY,
was so firm and zealous in that faith, as to excite the
doubts of the Tory party, to whom he latterly attached
himself, of his sincerity in their cause. According to
Lord Lovat, the arch-enemy of the Athole family, the
Duke had not any considerable portion of that quality
in his character, which Lord Lovat represents as one
compound of meanness, treachery, and revenge, and
attributes the hatred with which Athole persecuted the
brave and unfortunate Duke of Argyle, to the circum-
stance of his having received a blow from that noble-
man before the whole Court at Edinburgh, without
having the spirit to return the insult.*
It appears, from the same authority, that the loyalty
which the Duke of Athole professed towards King
William, was of a very questionable description. It
becomes, indeed, very difficult to ascertain what were
really the Duke of Athole's political tenets. Under
these conflicting and unsettled opinions the young
Marquis of Tullibardine was reared.
There seems little reason to doubt that his father,
the Duke of Athole, continued to act a double
part in the troublous days which followed the
accession of George the First. It was, of course, of
infinite importance to Government to secure the
allegiance of so powerful a family as that of Murray,
the head of whom was able to bring a body of six
thousand men into the field. It nevertheless soon
appeared that the young heir of the house of
Athole had imbibed very different sentiments to
* Lord Lovat's Memoirs, p. 39.
MARQUIS OF TULLIBARDINE. 95
those with which it was naturally supposed a
nobleman, actually in office at that time, would suffer
in his eldest son. The first act of the Marquis was to
join the Earl of Mar with two thousand men, clans-
men from the Highlands, and with fourteen hundred
of the Duke of Athole's tenants;* his next, to pro-
claim the Chevalier King. Almost simultaneously,
and whilst his tenantry were following their young
leader to the field, the Duke of Athole was pro-
claiming King George at Perth, f The Duke was
ordered, meantime, by the authorities, to remain at
his Castle of Blair to secure the peace of the
county, of which he was Lord-Lieutenant.
The Marquis of Tullibardine's name appears hence-
forth in most of the events of the Rebellion. There
exists little to shew how he acquitted himself in the
engagement of Sherriff Muir, where he led several
battalions to the field ; but he shewed his firmness
and valour by remaining for some time at the head
of his vassals, after the unhappy contest of 1715
was closed by the ignominious flight of the Chevalier.
All hope of reviving the Jacobite party being then
extinct for a time, the Marquis escaped to France,
where he remained in tranquillity for a few years ;
but his persevering endeavours to aid the Stuart
cause were only laid aside, and not abandoned.
During his absence, the fortunes of the house of
Athole sustained no important change. The office of
Privy Seal was, it is true, taken from the Duke and
* Wood's Peerage. t Reay, p. 78.
96 WILLIAM MURRAY,
given to the Marquis of Annandale ; but by the
favour of Government the estates escaped forfeiture,
and during the very year in which the Rebellion oc-
curred, the honours and lands which belonged to the
unfortunate Tullibardine were vested, by the inter-
cession of his father, in a younger son, Lord James
Murray. The effect of this may have been to render
the Marquis still more determined in his adherence
to the Stuart line. He was not, however, the only
member of the house of Murray who participated in
the Jacobite cause.
No less consistent in his opinions than the Marquis
of Tullibardine, William, the second Lord Nairn, came
forward to espouse the cause of the Stuarts. This
nobleman was the uncle of Lord Tullibardine, and
bore, before his marriage with Margaret, only daughter
of the first Lord Nairn, the appellation of Lord Wil-
liam Murray. The title was, however, settled by
patent upon him and his heirs ; and this obligation,
conferred by Charles the Second, was bestowed upon
one whose gratitude and devotion to the line of Stuart
ceased only with his life. Lord Nairn had been
educated to the naval service, and had distinguished
himself for bravery. He refused the oaths at
the Revolution, and consequently did not take his
seat in Parliament. His wife, Margaret, appears to
have shared in her husband's enthusiasm, and to
have resembled him in courage. In the Earl of Mar's
correspondence frequent allusion is made to her
under the name of Mrs. Mellor. " I wish," says the
MARQUIS OF TULLIBARDINE. 97
Earl on one occasion, " our men had her spirit."
And the remembrances which he sends her, and his
recurrence to her, show how important a personage
Lady Nairn must have been. Aided by these two
influential relations, the Marquis of Tullibardine had
engaged in the dangerous game which cost Scotland so
dear. Upon the close of the Rebellion, Lord Nairn
was not so fortunate as to escape to France with his
relation. He was taken prisoner, tried, and condemn-
ed to be executed. At his trial he pleaded guilty ;
but he was respited, and afterwards pardoned. His
wife and children were eventually provided for out
of the forfeited estate ; but neither punishment nor
favour prevented his sons from sharing in the Re-
bellion of 1745.
Another individual who participated in the Rebel-
lion of 1715 was Lord Charles Murray, the fourth
surviving son of the Duke of Athole, and one of those
gallant, fine-tempered soldiers, whose graceful bearing
and good qualities win upon the esteem even of their
enemies. At the beginning of the Rebellion, Lord
Charles was an officer on half-pay in the British
service ; he quickly joined the insurgent army, and
obtained the command of a regiment. Such was his
determination to share all dangers and difficulties with
his troops, that he never could be prevailed upon to
ride at the head of his regiment, but went in his
Highland dress, on foot, throughout the marches.
This young officer crossed the Forth with General
Mackintosh, and joined the Northumbrian insurgents
VOL. II. H
98 WILLIAM MURRAY,
in the march to Preston. At the siege of that town
Lord Charles defended one of the barriers, and repelled
Colonel Dormer's brigade from the attack. He was
afterwards made prisoner at the surrender, tried by a
court-martial, and sentenced to be shot as a deserter
from the British army. He was, however, subse-
quently reprieved, but died only five years after-
wards. *
The Marquis of Tullibardine was not, however, the
only Jacobite member of the family who had been
spared after the Rebellion of 1715, to renew his efforts
in the cause. His brother, the celebrated Lord
George Murray, was also deeply engaged in the same
interests. In 1719, the hopes of the party were
revived by the war with Spain, and their invasion
of Great Britain was quietly planned by the Duke
of Ormond, who hastened to Madrid to hold con-
ferences with Alberoni. Shortly afterwards the
Chevalier was received in that capital, and treated
as King of England. In March, 1719, the ill-fated
expedition under the Duke of Ormond was formed,
and a fleet, destined never to reach its appointed
place of rendezvous, sailed from Cadiz.
The enterprise met with the usual fate of all the
attempts formed in favour of the Stuarts. With the
exception of two frigates, none of the ships proceeded
farther than Cape Finisterre, where they were dis-
abled by a storm. These two vessels reached the coast
of Scotland, having on board of them the Earl of
* Wood's Peerage.
MARQUIS OF TULLIBARDINE. 99
Seaforth, the Earl Marischal, the Marquis of Tulli-
bardine,'' 5 ' three hundred Spaniards, and arms for two
thousand men. They landed at the island of Lewes,
but found the body of the Jacobite party resolved
not to move until all the forces under Ormond should
be assembled. During this interval of suspense, dis-
putes between the Marquis of Tullibardine and the
Lord Marischal, which should have the command, pro-
duced the usual effects among a divided and factious
party, of checking exertion by diminishing confidence.
It appears, however, that the Marquis had a com-
mission from the Chevalier to invade Scotland ; in
virtue of which he left the island of Lewes, whence he
had for some time been carrying on a correspondence
with the Highland chieftains, and landed with the
three hundred Spaniards on the main land. The
Ministers of George the First lost no time in repelling
this attempt by a foreign power, and it is singular
that they employed Dutch troops for the purpose ;
and that Scotland, for the first time, beheld her rights
contested by soldiers speaking different languages, and
natives of different continental regions. The Govern-
ment had brought over two thousand Dutch soldiers,
and six battalions of Imperial troops from the Austrian
Netherlands, and these were now sent down to Inverness,
where General Wightman was stationed. As soon as
he was informed of the landing of the Spanish forces,
* See Brown's History of the Highlands. But Home, in his History of
the Rebellion, speaks of Lords Tullibardine and Seaforth as coming from
a different quarter. " Most of these persons," he says, " came privately
from France."
H 2
100 WILLIAM MURRAY,
that commander marched his troops to Glenshiel, a
place between Fort Augustus and Benera. He at-
tacked the inyaders : the Highlanders were quickly
repulsed and fled to their hills ; the Spaniards were
taken prisoners ; but the Marquis of Tullibardine and
the Earl of Seaforth escaped, and, retreating to the
island of Lewes, again escaped to France.
During twenty-six years the Marquis of Tullibardine,
against whom an act of attainder was passed, re-
mained in exile. He appears to have avoided taking
any active part in political affairs. " These seven or
eight years," he says in a letter addressed to the
Chevalier, " have sufficiently shewn me how unfit I
am for meddling with the deep concerns of state." *
He resided at Puteaux, a small town near Paris, until
called imperatively from his retreat.
During the period of inaction, no measures were
taken to reconcile those whom he had left, the
more gallant portion of the Highlanders, to the English
Government. " The state of arms," says Mr. Home,
" was allowed to remain the same ; the Highlanders
lived under their chiefs, in arms ; the people of Eng-
land and the Lowlanders of Scotland lived, without
arms, under their sheriffs and magistrates ; so that
every rebellion was a war carried on by the Highland-
ers against the standing army ; and a declaration of
war with France or Spain, which required the service
of the troops abroad, was a signal for a rebellion at
home. Strange as it may seem, it was actually so."f
* Athol Correspondence. Printed for the Abbotsford Club. App.
229. t Home's History of the Rebellion, p. 19.
MARQUIS OF TULLIBARDINE. 101
During the interval between the two Rebellions of
1715 and 1745, the arts of peace were cultivated in
England, and the national wealth augmented ; but no
portion of that wealth altered the habits of the High-
land chieftains, who, looking continually for another re-
bellion, estimated their property by the number of men
whom they could bring into the field. An anecdote,
illustrative of this peculiarity, is told of Macdonald of
Keppoch, who was killed at the battle of Culloden.
Some low-country gentlemen were visiting him in
1 740, and were entertained with the lavish hospitality
of a Highland home. One of these guests ventured to
ask of the landlord, what was the rent of his estate.
" I can bring five hundred men into the field/' was the
reply. It was estimated, about this time, that the
whole force which could be raised by the Highlanders
amounted to no more than twelve thousand men ; yet,
with this inconsiderable number, the Jacobites could
shake the British throne.
The danger which might arise to the Government,
in case of a foreign war, from the Highlanders, was
foreseen by Duncan Forbes of Culloden, and a scheme
was formed by that good and great man, and commu-
nicated to Lord Hay, adapted to reconcile the chief-
tains to the sovereignty of the house of Hanover, and
at the same time to preserve the peace of the country.
This was, to raise four or five Highland regiments,
appointing an English or Scotch officer of undoubted
loyalty to King George, to be colonel of each regiment,
and naming all the inferior officers from a list drawn
102 WILLIAM MURRAY,
up by President Forbes, and comprising all the chiefs
and chieftains of the disaffected clans. Most unhap-
pily this plan was rejected. Had it been adopted, the
melancholy events of the last Kebellion might not
have left an indelible stain upon our national cha-
racter. The Highlanders, once enlisted in the cause
of Government, would have been true to their engage-
ments ; and the fidelity of the officers, when serving
abroad, would have been a guarantee for the good con-
duct of their relations at home. It was not, however,
deemed practicable ; and the energies of a determined
and unemployed people were again brought into active
force. It is said to have met with the decided appro-
bation of Sir Robert Walpole, but it was negatived
by the Cabinet.*
The year 1739 witnessed the revival of the Jacobite
Association, which had been annihilated by the attain-
ders and exiles of its members after the last Rebellion.
The declaration of war between Spain and England,
induced a belief that hostilities with France would
follow ; and accordingly, in 1 740, seven persons of dis-
tinction met at Edinburgh, and signed an association,
which was to be carried to the Chevalier St. George at
Rome, together with a list of those chiefs and chieftains
who were ready to join the association, if a body of
French troops should land in Scotland. This was the
commencement of the second Rebellion ; and it was
seconded with as pure a spirit of devotion to the
cause, as exalted an enthusiasm, as if none had bled
* Home, pp. 22, 23.
MARQUIS OF TULLIBARDINE. 103
on the scaffold in the previous reign, or attainders
and forfeitures had never visited with poverty and
ruin the adherents of James Stuart.
The Marquis of Tullibardine was selected as one of
the attendants of Charles Edward, in the perilous en-
terprise of the invasion. He was the person of the
highest rank among those who accompanied the gallant
and unfortunate adventurer in his voyage from the
mouth of the Loire to Scotland, in a little vessel, La
Doutelle, with its escort of a ship of seven hundred
tons, the Elizabeth. During this voyage the strictest
incognito was preserved by the Prince, who was
dressed in the habit of the Scotch College, at Paris,
and who suffered his beard to grow, in order still
better to disguise himself. At night the ship sailed
without a light, except that which proceeded from
the compass, and which was closely covered, the
more effectually to defy pursuit. As it tracked the
ocean, with its guardian, the Elizabeth, the sight of
a British man-of-war off Lizard Point excited the
ardour of the youthful hero on board of La Doutelle.
Captain D'Eau, the commander of the Elizabeth, deter-
mined to attack the English ship, and requested the
aid of Mr. "Walsh, who commanded the Doutelle. His
request was denied, probably from the responsibility
which would have been incurred by Walsh, if he
had endangered the safety of the vessel in which the
Prince sailed. The attack was therefore made by the
brave D'Eau alone. It was succeeded by a fight of
two hours, during which the Doutelle looked on, while
104 WILLIAM MURRAY,
the Prince vainly solicited Walsh to engage in the
action. The commander refused, and threatened the
royal youth to send him to his cabin if he persisted.
Both ships were severely damaged in the encounter,
and La Doutelle was obliged to proceed on her way
alone, the Elizabeth returning to France to refit.
On the twenty-first of July, La Doutelle approached
the remote range of the Hebrides, comprehending
Lewes, Uist, and Barra, often called, from being seen
together, the Long Island. As the vessel neared the
shore, a large Hebridean eagle hovered over the masts.
The Marquis of Tullibardine observed it, and attri-
buted to its appearance that importance to which the
imagination of his countrymen gives to such incidents ;
yet, not wishing to appear superstitious, or to show
what is called a "Highland freit," it was not until
the bird had followed the ship's course for some time,
that he drew the attention of the Prince to the cir-
cumstance. As they returned on deck after dinner, he
pointed out the bird to Charles Edward, observing at
the same time, "Sir, I hope this is a happy omen,
and promises good things to us ; the king of birds is
come to welcome your Royal Highness, on your arrival
in Scotland."
The Prince and his followers landed, on the twenty-
third of July, at the island of Eriska, belonging to
Clanranald, and situated between the Isles of Barra
and of South Uist, their voyage having been accom-
plished in eighteen days. Here all the party landed,
with the exception of the Marquis, who was laid up
MARQUIS OF TULLIBARDINE. 105
with the gout, and unable to move. His condition
was supposed to be one of peril, for two ships
had been espied, and the Prince and his associates
hurried off, with all the expedition they could, to
shore. The long boat was got out, and sent to pro-
cure a pilot, who was discovered in the person of
the hereditary piper of Clanranald, who piloted
the precious freight safely to shore. The two vessels
which had produced so much alarm, proved after-
wards to be only merchant-vessels.
In these " malignant regions/' as Dr. Johnson de-
scribes them, referring to the severity of the climate
and the poverty of the soil, Prince Charles and his ad-
herents were lodged in a small country house, with a
hole in the roof for a chimney, and a fire in the middle
of the room. The young adventurer, reared among the
delicacies of the palace at Albano, was often obliged to
go to the door for fresh air. " What a plague is the
matter with that fellow," exclaimed Angus Macdonald,
the landlord, " that he can neither sit nor stand still,
nor keep within nor without doors 1" The night, it
must be observed, was unusually wet and stormy, so
that the Prince had no alternative between smoke and
rain. The pride of the Scotch, in this remote region,
was exemplified in another trifling occurrence : The
Prince, who was less fatigued than the rest of the party,
with that consideration for others, and disregard
of his own personal comfort, which formed at this
period so beautiful a part of his character, insisted
that his attendants should retire to rest. He took a
106 WILLIAM MURRAY,
particular care of Sir Thomas Sheridan, his tutor, and
examined closely the bed appropriated to him, in order
to see that it was well aired. The landlord, indignant
at this investigation, called out to him, " That the bed
was so good, and the sheets were so good, that a prince
might sleep in them." *
The farm-house in which this little incident took
place, and which first received the Prince, who was
destined to occupy so great a variety of dwellings in
Scotland, was situated in Borrodale, a wild, moun-
tainous tract of country, which forms a tongue of
land between two bays. Borrodale, being difficult of
access, was well-chosen as the landing-place of Charles ;
whilst around, in most directions, were the well-wishers
to his cause.
The Marquis of Tullibardine accompanied Charles in
his progress until the Prince landed at Glenfinnin,f
which is situated about twenty miles from Fort Wil-
liam, and forms the outlet from Moidart to Lochaber ;
here the standard of Charles Edward was unfurled.
The scene in which this ill-omened ceremonial took
place is a deep and narrow valley, in which the river
Finnin runs between high and craggy mountains, which
are inaccessible to every species of carriage, and only
to be surmounted, by travellers on foot. At each end
of the vale is a lake of about twelve miles in length,
and behind the stern mountains which enclose the
glen, are salt-water lakes, one of them an arm of
* Jacobite Memoirs.
f Glenfinnin is in the shire of Inverness, and the parish of Glenelg.
It is situated at the head of Loch Shiel.
MARQUIS OF TULLIBARDINE. 107
the sea. The river Finnin empties itself into the
Lake of Glenshiel, at the extremity of the glen. On
the eighteenth of August Prince Charles crossed this
lake, slept at Glensiarick, and on the nineteenth pro-
ceeded to Glenfinnin.
When Charles landed in the glen, he gazed around
anxiously for Cameron of Lochiel, the younger,
whom he expected to have joined him. He looked
for some time in vain ; that faithful adherent was
not then in sight, nor was the glen, as the Prince
had expected, peopled by any of the clansmen
whose gathering he had expected. A few poor peo-
ple from the little knot of hovels, which was called
the village, alone greeted the ill-starred adventurer.
Disconcerted, Prince Charles entered one of the hovels,
which are still standing, and waited there for about
two hours. At the end of that time, the notes of
the pibroch were heard, and presently, descending
from the summit of a hill, appeared the Camerons,
advancing in two lines, each of them three men deep.
Between the lines walked the prisoners of war, who had
been taken some days previously near Loch Lochiel.
The Prince, exhilarated by the sight of six or seven
hundred brave Highlanders, immediately gave orders
for the standard to be unfurled.
The office of honour was entrusted to the Marquis
of Tullibardine, on account of his high rank and
importance to the cause. The spot chosen for the
ceremony was a knoll in the centre of the vale.
Upon this little eminence the Marquis stood, sup-
108 WILLIAM MURRAY,
ported on either side by men, for his health was in-
firm, and what we should now call a premature old
age was fast approaching. The banner which it was
his lot to unfurl displayed no motto, nor was there
inscribed upon it the coffin and the crown which the
vulgar notion in England assigned to it. It was
simply a large banner of red silk, with a white space
in the middle. The Marquis held the staff until the
Manifesto of the Chevalier and the Commission of
Regency had been read. In a few hours the glen in
which this solemnity had been performed, was filled
not only with Highlanders, but with ladies and gen-
tlemen to admire the spectacle. Among them was
the celebrated Miss, or, more properly, Mrs. Jeanie
Cameron, whose passionate attachment for the Prince
rendered her so conspicuous in the troublous period
of 1745. The description given of her in Bishop
Forbes's Jacobite Memoirs destroys much of the
romance of the story commonly related of her.
" She is a widow," he declares, " nearer fifty than
forty years of age. She is a genteel, well-looking,
handsome woman, with a pair of pretty eyes, and
hair black as jet. She is of a very sprightly genius,
and is very agreeable in conversation. She was so
far from accompanying the Prince's army, that she
went off with the rest of the spectators as soon as the
army marched ; neither did she ever follow the
camp, nor ever was with the Prince in private,
except when he was in Edinburgh." *
* Jacobite Memoirs, p. 23.
MARQUIS OF TULLIBARDINE. 109
Soon after the unfurling of the standard, we find
the Marquis of Tullibardine writing to Mrs. Robertson
of Lude, a daughter of Lord Nairn, and desiring her
to put the Castle of Blair into some order, and to do
the honours of the place when the Prince should come
there. The Marquis, it is here proper to mention,
was regarded by all the Jacobites as still the head
of his house, and uniformly styled by that party the
" Duke of Athole," yet he seldom adopted the title
himself ; and in only one or two instances in his cor-
respondence does the signature of Athole occur.*
On the thirty-first of August the Prince visited the
famous Blair Athole, or Field of Athole, the word
Blair signifying a pleasant land, and being descriptive
of that beautiful vale situated in the midst of wild
and mountainous scenery.
After riding along a black moor, in sight of vast
mountains, the castle, a plain massive white house,
appears in view. It is seated on an eminence above
a plain watered by the Gary, called, by Pennant, " an
outrageous stream, which laves and rushes along
vast beds of gravel on the valley below."
The approach to Blair Castle winds up a very
steep and high hill, and through a great birch wood,
forming a most picturesque scene, from the pendent
form of the boughs waving with the wind from the
bottom to the utmost summits of the mountains. On
attaining the top, a view of the beautiful little Straith,
fertile and wooded, with the river in the middle,
* Introductory Notice, Athol Correspondence, p ix.
110 WILLIAM MURRAY,
delights the beholder. The stream, after meandering
in various circles, suddenly swells into a lake that
fills the vale from side to side ; this lake is about
three miles long, and retains the name of the river.
When Prince Charles visited Blair, it was a forti-
fied house, and capable of holding out a siege
afterwards against his adherents. Its height was
consequently lowered, but the inside has been
finished with care by the ducal owner. The environs
of this beautiful place are thus described by the
graphic pen of Pennant,* whose description of them,
having been written in 1769, is more likely to apply
to the state in which it was when Prince Charles
beheld it, than that of any more modern traveller.
" The Duke of AthoeFs estate is very extensive, and
the country populous ; while vassalage existed, the
chieftain could raise two or three thousand fighting-
men, and leave sufficient at home to take care of the
ground. The forests, or rather chases, (for they are
quite naked,) are very extensive, and feed vast num-
bers of stags, which range at certain times of the
year in herds of five hundred. Some grow to a great
size. The hunting of these animals was formerly after
the manner of an Eastern monarch. Thousands of
vassals surrounded a great tract of country, and drove
the deer to the spot where the chieftains were sta-
tioned, who shot them at their leisure.
" Near the house is a fine walk surrounding a very
deep glen, finely wooded, but in dry weather deficient
* Pennant's Scotland, vol. i. p. 118.
MARQUIS OF TULLIBARDINE. Ill
in water at the bottom ; but on the side of the walk
on the rock is a small crystalline fountain, inhabited
at that time by a pair of Naiads, in the form of golden
fish.
" In a spruce-fir was a hang-nest of some unknown
bird, suspended at the four corners to the boughs;
it was open at top an inch and a half in diameter,
and two deep ; the sides and bottom thick, the ma-
terials moss, worsted, and birch-bark, lined with hair
and feathers. The stream affords the parr,* a small
species of trout seldom exceeding eight inches in
length, marked on the sides with nine large bluish
spots, and on the lateral line with small red ones.
No traveller should omit visiting Yorke Cascade, a
magnificent cataract, amidst most suitable scenery,
about a mile distant from the house. This country
is very mountainous, has no natural woods, except
of birch; but the vast plantations that begin to cloath
the hills will amply supply these defects/' f
With what sensations must the Marquis of Tul-
libardine have approached this beautiful and princely
territory, from which he had been excluded, his vas-
sals becoming the vassals of a younger brother, and
he a proscribed and aged man, visiting as an alien
the home of his youth !
Sanguine hopes, however, perhaps mitigated the
bitterness of the reflections with which the faithful
* It has lately been proved, beyond doubt, that the parr is a young
salmon, not a distinct fish,
t Pennant, p. 119.
112 WILLIAM MURRAY,
and disinterested Marquis of Tullibardine once more
found himself within the precincts of his proud
domain.
Several anecdotes are told of Prince Charles at
Blair ; among others, " that when the Prince was
at the Castle, he went into the garden, and taking
a walk upon the bowling-green, he said he had never
seen a bowling-green before ; upon which Mrs.
Robertson of Lude called for some bowls that he
might see them, but he told her that he had had a
present of bowls sent him, as a curiosity, to Rome
from England."*
On the second of September, the Prince left Blair
and went to the house of Lude, where he was very
cheerful, and took his share in several dances, such as
minuets and Highland reels ; the first reel the Prince
called for was, " This is no' mine ain House ;" he
afterwards commanded a Strathspey minuet to be
danced.
On the following day, while dining at Durikeld,
some of the company happened to observe what a
thoughtful state his father would* now be in from
the consideration of those dangers and difficulties
which he had to encounter, and remarked that
upon this account he was much to be pitied, because
his mind must be much upon the rack. The Prince
replied, that he did not half so much pity his father
as his brother ;f "for," (he said) " the King has been
* Jacobite Memoirs, pp. 26, 27.
t Henry Benedict, afterwards Cardinal York.
MARQUIS OF TULLIBARDINE. 113
inured to disappointments and distresses, and has
learnt to bear up easily under the misfortunes of life ;
but, poor Harry ! his young and tender years make
him much to be pitied, for few brothers love as
we do."
On the fourth of September, Prince Charles entered
Perth ; the Marquis of Tullibardine, as it appears
from several letters addressed to him by Lord George
Murray, who wrote from Perth, remained at Blair, but
only, as it is evident from the following extract
from a letter by Lord George Murray, whilst await-
ing the arrangement of active operations. On the
twenty-second of September he received a com-
mission from the Prince, constituting and appointing
him Commander-in-Chief of the forces north of the
Forth ; the active duties of the post were, however,
fulfilled by Lord George Murray, who writes in the
character of a general : *
" DEAR BROTHER,
" Things vary so much from time to time, that
I can say nothing certain as yet, but refer you to
the enclosed letter ; but depend upon having another
express from me with you before Monday night.
But in the meantime you must resolve to be ready
to march on Tuesday morning, by Keinacan and Tay
Bridge, so as to be at Crieff on Wednesday, and even
that way, if you do your best, you will be half a mark
behind; but you will be able to make that up on
* Jacobite Memoirs, p. 31,
VOL. II. 1
114 WILLIAM MURRAY,
Thursday, when I reckon we may meet at Dumblane,
or Doun ; but of this more fully in my next. It is
believed for certain, that Cope will embark at Aber-
deen.
" I hope the meal was with you this day, thirty-five
bolls, for it was at Invar last night. It shall be my
study to have more meal with you on Monday night,
for you must distribute a peck a man ; and cost what
it will, there must be frocks made to each man to
contain a peck or two for the men to have always
with them.
" Buy linen, yarn, or anything, for these frocks are
of absolute necessity nothing can be done without
them. His Koyal Highness desires you to acquaint
Glenmoriston and Glenco, if they come your way of
this intended march, so that they may go by Tay-
bridge (if you please, with you), and what meal you
can spare let them have. You may please tell your
own people that there is a project to get arms for
them. Yours. Adieu. " GEORGE MURRAY."
From his age and infirmities, the Marquis was pre-
cluded from taking an active part in the long course of
events which succeeded the unfurling of the standard
at Glenfinnin. He appears to have exercised a gentle,
but certain sway over the conduct of others, and es-
pecially to have possessed a control over the high-
spirited Lord George Murray, whose conduct he did
not always approve. 45 "
* See Forbes's Jacobite Memoirs, p. 51.
MARQUIS OF TULLIBARDINE. 115
Whilst at Blair, the Marquis was saluted as Duke
of Athole by all who entered his house ; but the
honour was accompanied by some mortifications. His
younger brother, the Duke of Athole, had taken care
to carry away everything that could be conveyed,
and to drive off every animal that could be driven
from his territory. The Marquis had therefore great
difficulty in providing even a moderate entertain-
ment for the Prince ; whilst the army, now grown
numerous, were almost starving. " The priests/' writes
a contemptuous opponent, " never had a fitter op-
portunity to proclaim a general fast than the present.
No bull of the Pope's would ever have been more cer-
tain of finding a most exact and punctual obedience."
After the battle of Culloden had sealed the fate of
the Jacobites, the Marquis of Tullibardine was forced, a
second time, to seek a place of refuge. He threw him-
self, unhappily, upon the mercy of one who little de-
served the confidence which was reposed in his hon-
our, or merited the privilege of succouring the
unfortunate. The following are the particulars of his
fate :-
About three weeks after the battle of Culloden the
Marquis of Tullibardine traversed the moors and
mountains through Strathane in search of a place of
safety and repose : he had become a very infirm old
man, and so unfit for travelling on horseback, that he
had a saddle made on purpose, somewhat like a chair,
in which he rode in the manner ladies usually do.
On arriving in the vicinity of Loch Lomond he was
i 2
116 WILLIAM MURRAY,
quite worn out, and recollecting that a daughter of the
family of Polmain (who were connected with his own)
was married to Buchanan of Drumakiln, who lived in
a detached peninsula; running out into the lake,
the fainting fugitive thought, on these accounts, that
the place might be suitable for a temporary refuge.
The Marquis was attended by a French secretary,
two servants of that nation, and two or three High-
landers, who had guided him through the solitary
passes of the mountains. Against the judgment of
these faithful attendants, he bent his course to the
Ross, for so the house of Drumakiln is called, where
the Laird of Drumakiln was living with his son.
The Marquis, after alighting, begged to have a
private interview with his cousin, the wife of Druma-
kiln ; he told this lady he was come to put his
life into her hands, and what, in some sense, he
valued more than life, a small casket,* which he de-
livered to her, intreating her, whatever became of him,
that she would keep that carefully till demanded in his
name, as it contained papers of consequence to the hon-
our and safety of many other persons. Whilst he was
thus talking, the younger Drumakiln rudely broke in
upon him, and snatching away the casket, he said
he would secure it in a safe place, and went out.
Meantime the French secretary and the servants were
watchful and alarmed at seeing the father and son
walking in earnest consultation, and observing horses
* This casket was never more seen. It was supposed to contain
family jewels.
MARQUIS OF TULLIBARDINE. 117
saddled and dispatched with an air of mystery, whilst
every one appeared to regard them with compassion.
All this time the Marquis was treated with seeming
kindness ; but his attendants suspected some snare.
They burst into loud lamentations, and were described
by some children, who observed them, to be ' greeting
and roaring like women.' This incident the lady of
Drumakiln (who was a person of some capacity) after-
wards told her neighbours as a strange instance of
effeminacy in these faithful adherents.
At night the secretary went secretly to his master's
bedside, and assured him there was treachery. The
Marquis answered he could believe no gentleman
capable of such baseness, and at any rate he was
incapable of escaping through such defiles as they
had passed ; he told him in that case it could only
aggravate his sorrow to see him also betrayed; and ad-
vised him to go off immediately, which he did. Early
in the morning a party from Dumbarton, summoned
for that purpose, arrived to carry the Marquis away
prisoner. He bore his fate with calm magnanimity.
The fine horses which he brought with him were
detained, and he and one attendant who remained
were mounted on some horses belonging to Drumakiln,
Such was the general sentiment of disgust with
Drumakiln, that the officer who commanded the party
taunted that gentleman in the bitterest manner, and
the commander of Dumbarton Castle, who treated his
noble prisoner with the utmost respect and compassion,
regarded Drumakiln with the coldest disdain. The
118 WILLIAM MURRAY,
following anecdotes of the odium which Drumakiln
incurred, are related by Mrs. Grant. *
" Very soon after the Marquis had departed, young
Drumakiln mounted the Marquis's horse, (the servant
riding another which had belonged to that noble-
man,) and set out to a visit to his father-in-law
Polmaise.
"When he alighted, he gave his horse to a groom,
who, knowing the Marquis well, recognised him 'Come
in poor beast (said he) ; times are changed with you
since you carried a noble Marquis, but you shall always
be treated well here for his sake/ Drumakiln ran in to
his father-in-law, complaining that his servant insulted
him. Polmaise made no answer, but turning on his
heel, rang the bell for the servant, saying, ' That gen-
tleman's horses/
" After this and several other rebuffs the father and
son began to shrink from the infamy attached to this
proceeding. There was at that time only one news-
paper published at Edinburgh, conducted by the well-
known Euddiman; to this person the elder Druma-
kiln addressed a letter or paragraph to be inserted in
his paper, bearing that on such a day the Marquis
surrendered to him at his house. This was regularly
dated at Ross : very soon after the father and son went
together to Edinburgh, and waiting on the person ap-
pointed to make payments for affairs of this nature,
demanded their reward. It should have been before
* Mrs. Grant's MS. For which I um indebted for the whole of this
account.
MARQUIS OF TULLIBARDINE. 119
observed, that the Government were at this time not
at all desirous to apprehend the Marquis, though his
name was the first inserted in the proclamation. This
capture indeed greatly embarrassed them, as it would
be cruel to punish, and partial to pardon him. The
special officer desired Drumakiln to return the next day
for the money. Meanwhile he sent privately to Rud-
diman and examined him about the paragraph already
mentioned. They found it on his file, in the old
Laird's handwriting, and delivered it to the com-
missioner. The commissioner delivered the paragraph,
in his own handwriting, up to the elder, saying,
* There is an order to the Treasury, which ought
to satisfy you,' and turned away from him with
marked contempt."
Soon after the younger laird was found dead in
his bed, to which he had retired in usual health.
Of five children which he left, it would shock hu-
manity to relate the wretched lives, and singular, and
untimely deaths, of whom, indeed, it might be said,
" On all the line a sudden vengeance waits,
And frequent hearses shall besiege their gates."
And they were literally considered by all the neigh-
bourhood as caitiffs,
" Whose breasts the furies steel'd
And curst with hearts unknowing how to yield." POPE.
The blasting influence of more than dramatic justice,
or of corroding infamy, seemed to reach every branch
of this devoted family. After the extinction of the
direct male heirs, a brother, who was a captain in
120 WILLIAM MURRAY,
the army, came home to take possession of the pro-
perty. He was a person well-respected in life, and
possessed some talent, and much amenity of man-
ners. The country gentlemen, however, shunned and
disliked him, on account of the existing prejudice.
This person, thus shunned and slighted, seemed to
grow desperate, and plunged into the lowest and most
abandoned profligacy. It is needless to enter into a
detail of crimes which are hastening to desired ob-
livion. It is enough to observe that the signal mi-
series of this family have done more to impress the
people of that district with a horror of treachery, and
a sense of retributive justice, than volumes of the
most eloquent instruction could effect. On the dark
question relative to temporal judgments it becomes
us not to decide. Yet it is of some consequence, in
a moral view, to remark how much all generous emu-
lation, all hope of future excellence, is quenched in
the human mind by the dreadful blot of imputed
infamy." *
This account of the retributive justice of public
opinion which was visited upon Drumakiln, is con-
firmed by other authority. f It is consolatory to reflect
that the Marquis of Tullibardine, after a life spent in
an honest devotion to the cause which he believed to
be just, was spared, by a merciful release, from the
horrors of a public trial, and of a condemnation to the
scaffold, which age and ill-health were not sufficient
* Mrs. Grant's MS.
t Note in Forbes's Jacobite Memoirs, p. 3.
'MARQUIS OF TULLIBARDINE. 121
pleas to avert. After remaining some weeks in con-
finement at Dumbarton, he was carried to Edinburgh,
where he remained until the thirteenth of May, 1746.
He was then put on board the Eltham man-of-war,
lying in the Leith Roads, bound for London. His
health all this time was declining, yet he had the
inconvenience of a long sea voyage to sustain, for
the Eltham went north for other prisoners before it
sailed for London. But at length the Marquis reached
his last home, the Tower, where he arrived on the
twenty-first of June. He survived only until the
ninth of July.
Little is known of this unfortunate nobleman, ex-
cept what is honourable, consistent, and amiable. He
had almost ceased to be Scotch, except in his attach-
ments, and could scarcely write his own language. He
seems to have been generally respected ; and he bore
his reverses of fortune with calmness and fortitude.
In his last moments he is said to have declared, that
although he had been as much attached to the cause
of James Stuart as any of his adherents, if he might
now advise his countrymen, it should be never more
to enter into rebellious measures, for, having failed in
the last attempt, every future one would be hopeless.f
The Marquis died in the fifty- eighth year of his
age, and was buried in the chapel in the Tower,
which has received few more honest men, or public
characters more true to the principles which they
have professed.
* Wood's Peerage. t Athole Correspondence. Introductory Notice.
122 WILLIAM MURRAY,
The following letter, written in March, 1746, dur-
ing the siege of Blair Castle, when it was commanded
by a garrison under Sir Andrew Agnew, and addressed
to Lord George Murray, shows the strong sense which
the Marquis entertained of what was due to his coun-
try and his cause.
" BROTHER GEORGE,
" Since, contrary to the rules of right reason,
you was pleased to tell me a sham story about the
expedition to Blair, without further ceremony for
me, you may now do what the gentlemen of the
country think fit with the castle : I am in no concern
about it. Our great-great-grandfather, grandfather,
and father's pictures will be an irreparable loss on
blowing up the house ; but there is no comparison
to be made with these faint images of our forefathers
and the more necessary publick service, which requires
we should sacrifice everything that can valuably con-
tribute towards the country's safety, as well as ma-
terially advancing the royal cause. Pray give my
kind service to all valuable friends, to which I can
add nothing but that, in all events, you may be as-
sured I shall ever be found with just regard, dear
brother, your most affectionate brother and humble
servant."
" Inverness,
" March 26, 1746."
MARQUIS OF TULLIBARDINE. 123
" PS. At the upper end of the door of the old stable,
there was formerly a gate which had a portcullis
into the castle ; it is half built up and boarded over
on the stable side, large enough to hold a horse at
hack and manger. People that don't know the place
imagine it may be much easier dug through than
any other part of the wall, so as to make a convenient
passage into the vaulted room, which is called the
servants' hall."
a !
Of the fate of this princely territory, and upon the
fortunes of the family of which the Marquis of Tulli-
bardine was so respectable a member, much remains
to be related ; but it appertains more properly to the
life of the warlike and ambitious brother of the
Marquis, the celebrated Lord George Murray.
124
SIR JOHN MACLEAN.
THE name Maclean, abbreviated from Mac Gillean,
is derived from the founder of the clan, " Gillean n'a
Tuaidh," Gillean of the Battle-axe, so called from his
carrying with him as his ordinary weapon, a battle-
axe. From this hero are descended the three prin-
cipal families who compose the clan Maclean, who was
also designated Gillean of Duart.
It is related of Gillean that, being one day engaged
in a stag-hunt on the mountain of Bein't Sheala, and
having wandered away from the rest of his party,
the mountain became suddenly enveloped in a deep
mist, and that he lost his track. For three days he
wandered about ; and, at length exhausted, threw
himself under the shelter of a cranberry bush, pre-
viously fixing the handle of his battle-axe in the earth.
He was discovered by his party, who had been vainly
endeavouring to find him, insensible on the ground,
with his arm round the handle of the battle-axe,
whilst the head of the weapon rose above the bush.
Hence, probably, the origin of the crest used by the
clan Maclean, the battle-axe surrounded by a laurel-
branch.*
* Historical and Genealogical Account of the Clan Maclean, by a
Seneachie,
SIR JOHN MACLEAN. 125
To Gillean of the Battle-axe various origins have
been ascribed ; truly is it observed, that " there is
little wisdom in attempting to thread the mazes of
fanciful and traditionary genealogies."* Like other
families of importance, in feudal times, the Macleans
had their seneachie, or historian ; and, by the last of
these, Dr. John Beaton, the descent, in regular order,
from Aonaglius Turmi Teanebrach, a powerful monarch
of Ireland, to Fergus the First, of Scotland, is traced.
A tradition had indeed prevailed, that the founder
of the house of Maclean was a son of Fitzgerald, an
Earl of Kildare, a supposition which is contemptu-
ously rejected by the historian of this ancient race.
" In fact," he remarks, " from various sources, Gil-
lean can be proved to have been in his grave, long
before such a title as Earl of Kildare was known, and
nearly two hundred years before the name of Fitz-
gerald existed." f It appears, indeed, undoubted, from
ancient records and well-authenticated sources, that
the origin of Gillean was derived from the source
which has been stated.
When the lordship of the Isles was forfeited, the
clan Maclean was divided into four branches, each of
which held of the Lords of the Isles ; these branches
were the Macleans of Duart, the Macleans of Loch-
buy, the Macleans of Coll, and the Macleans of Ard-
gour. Of these, the most important branch was the
family of Duart, founded by Lachlan Maclean, sur-
* Brown's Highlands.
f Historical Account of the Clan Maclean, p. 4.
126 SIR JOHN MACLEAN.
named Lubanich. This powerful chief obtained such
an ascendant at the court of the Lord of the Isles, as
to provoke the enmity of the Chief of Mackinnon, who,
on the occasion of a stag-hunt, formed a plot to cut off
Lachlan and his brother, Hector Maclean. But the
conspiracy was discovered by its objects ; Mackinnon
suffered death at the hands of the two brothers for his
design ; and the Lord of the Isles, sailing in his galley
towards his Castle of Ardtorinsh in Morven, was cap-
tured, and carried to Icolumb-kill, where he was
obliged, sitting on the famous black rock of lona,
held sacred in those days, to swear that he would
bestow in marriage upon Lachlan Lubanich his daugh-
ter Margaret, granddaughter, by her mother's side, of
Robert the Second, King of Scotland : and with her,
as a dowry, to give to the Lord of Duart, Eriska,
with all its isles. The dowry demanded consisted of a
towering rock, commanding an extensive view of the
islands by which it is surrounded, and occupying a
central situation among those tributaries.* From the
bold and aspiring chief was Sir John Maclean of Duart
descended. The marriage of Lachlan Lubanich with
Margaret of the Isles took place in the year 1366.f
Between the time of Lachlan Lubanich and the
birth of Sir John Maclean, the house of Duart encoun-
* " Eriska is interesting as having been the first place where Charles
Edward landed in Scotland. It is the boundary of Ottervore toward the
north, and is separated from South Uist by a narrow rocky sound. Upon
a detached and high rock at its southern end are to be seen the remains
of a square tower, the abode of some ancient chieftain." Macculloch,
vol. i. p. 87. t Hist. Account.
SIR JOHN MACLEAN. 127
tered various reverses of fortune. It has been shown
how the chief added the rock of Eriska to his pos-
sessions ; in the course of the following century, a great
part of the Isles of Mull and Tircy, with detached
lands in Isla, Jura, Scarba, and in the districts of
Morven, Lochaber, and Knapdale, were included in the
estates of the chiefs of Duart, who rose, in the time of
James the Sixth, to be among the most powerful
of the families of the Hebrides. The principal seats
of the chiefs of the Macleans were Duart and Aros
Castles in Mull, Castle Gillean in Kerrara, on the
coast of Lorn, and Ardtornish Castle in Morven. In
1632, on occasion of the visit of one of the chiefs,
Lachlan, to the Court of Charles the First, he was
created a Baronet of Nova Scotia, by the title of Sir
Lachlan Maclean of Morven. But various circum-
stances, and more especially the enmity of the Argyle
family, and the adherence of Maclean to the Stuarts,
had contributed to the decline of their pre-eminence
before the young chief, whose destiny it was to make
his name known and feared at the court of England,
had seen the light.
The family of Maclean in all its numerous and com-
plicated branches, had been distinguished for loyalty
and independence during the intervening centuries
between the career of Gillean and the birth of that
chieftain whose devotion to the Jacobite cause proved
eventually the ruin of the house of Duart. Through-
out the period of the Great Rebellion, and of the Pro-
tectorate, the chief of the Macleans had made im-
128 SIR JOHN MACLEAN.
mense sacrifices to support the interests of the King,
and to bring his clan into the field. In the disgrace-
ful transactions, by which it was agreed that Scotland
should withdraw her troops from England upon the
payment of four hundred thousand pounds, in full of
all demands, the faithful Highland clans of the north
and west, the Grahams, Macleans, Camerons, and many
others, had no participation. One main actor in that
bargain, by which a monarch was bought and sold,
was the Marquis of Argyle, the enemy and terror of
his Highland neighbours, the Macleans of Duart.
Upon the suppression of the royal authority, domestic
feuds were ripened into hostilities during the general
anarchy ; and few of the oppressed and harassed
clans suffered more severely, or more permanently
than the Macleans of Duart.
Archibald, the first Marquis of Argyle, fixed an in-
delible stain upon his memory by acts of unbridled
licence and aggression, in relation to his Highland
neighbours ; the unfortunate Macleans of Duart espe-
cially experienced the effects of his wrath, and suf-
fered from his manoeuvres.*
In the time of Cromwell, Argyle having procured
from the Lords of the Treasury, a grant of the tithes
of Argyleshire, with a commission to collect several
arrears of the feu -duty, cesses, taxation, and supply,
and some new contributions laid on the subject by
* Memoirs of Lochiel, p. 193. This account is preferable to that
given by the historian of the house of Maclean, as it is of course a more
dispassionate statement, although the facts stated are nearly the same.
See Hist, and Gen. Acct. pp. 140, 141.
SIR JOHN MACLEAN. 121)
Parliament, under the names of ammunition and con-
tribution money, the power which such an authority
bestowed, in days when the standard of right was
measured by the amount of force, may readily be con-
ceived. On the part of Argyle, long-cherished views
on the territories of his neighbour, Maclean of Duart,
were now brought into co-operation with the most re-
morseless abuse of authority.
Sir Lachlan Maclean of Duart, the great-grandfather
of Sir John Maclean, was then chief of the clan. The
Marquis of Argyle directed that application should be
made to this unfortunate man for his quota of these
arrears, and also for some small sums for which he had
himself been security for the chief. Sir Lachlan was
in no condition to comply with this demand ; for he
had suffered more deeply in the royal cause than any
of his predecessors. During the rule of Argyle and
Leslie in Scotland, a rule which might aptly be de-
nominated a reign of terror, the possessions of the
chief in Mull had been ravaged by the parliamentary
troops, without any resistance from the harmless in-
habitants, who had been instructed by their lord to
offer no retaliation that could furnish a plea for future
oppression. The castle of Duart had been besieged,
and surrendered to Argyle and Leslie, upon condition
that the defenceless garrison, and eight Irish gentle-
men, inmates of the hospitable Highlander's home,
should be spared. Still more, the infant son of Sir
Lachlan had been kidnapped from his school at Dum-
barton by Argyle, and was paraded by the side of
VOL. II. K
130 SIR JOHN MACLEAN.
the Marquis to intimidate the chief, who was made
to understand that any resistance from him would be
fatal to his child, " an instrument," observes the
seneachie, " which the coward well knew might be
used with greater effect upon the noble father of his
captive, than all the Campbell swords the craven lord
could muster." Under these circumstances, Sir Lach-
lan Maclean was neither in the temper nor the con-
dition to comply with the exactions of those whom he
also regarded as having usurped the sovereign autho-
rity. He refused ; and his refusal was exactly what
his enemy desired.
The next step which Argyle took was to claim the
amount due to him from the chief, which, by buying
up all the debts, public and private, of Maclean, he
swelled to thirty thousand pounds, before a court of law.
Such was the state of Scottish judicial proceedings in
those days, that the process was ended before Sir Lach-
lan had even heard of its commencement. He hastened,
when informed of it, to Edinburgh, in order to make
known his case before the " Committee of Estates,"
then acting with sovereign authority in Scotland. But
he was intercepted at Inverary, cast into prison upon
a writ of attachment, issued and signed by Argyle him-
self, and immured in Argyle's castle of Carrick, for
a debt due to Archibald, Marquis of Argyle. It was
there required of him that he should grant a bond
for fourteen thousand pounds Scots, and sign a
doqueted account for sixteen thousand pounds more,
bearing interest.
SIR JOHN MACLEAN. 131
For a time the unhappy chief refused to sign the
bond thus demanded ; for a year lie resisted the op-
pression of his enemy, and bore his imprisonment,
with the aggravation of declining health. At last
his friends, alarmed at his sinking condition, entreated
him, as the only means of release, to comply with the
demand of Argyle. Sir Lachlan signed the docu-
ment, was set free, and returned to Duart, where he
expired in April, 1649. To his family he bequeathed
a legacy of contention and misfortune.
His successor, Sir Hector Maclean, the young hos-
tage who had been kidnapped from Dumbarton, was a
youth of a warlike and determined spirit, who resisted
the depredations of the plundering clan of Campbells
in Lorn and Ardnamuchan, and, on one occasion, hung
up two of the invaders at his castle of Dunnin Mor-
vern. Such, in spite of this summary mode of pro-
ceeding, were Sir Hector's ideas of honour, that, not-
withstanding his doubts of the validity of the bond
obtained from his father, he conceived that the su-
perscription of his father's name to it rendered it
his duty to comply with its conditions as he could.
He is declared by one authority to have paid ten
thousand pounds of the demand ; by another that
fact is doubted, since, when Sir John Maclean's guar-
dians investigated it, no receipts for sums alleged
to have been paid on account were to be found.*
But this is again accounted for by the seneachie or
family historian.
* Memoir of Lochiel, p. 194.
K 2
132 SIR JOHN MACLEAN.
Sir Hector Maclean fell in the battle of Inver-
keithing, where, out of eight hundred of his clan who
fought against General Lambert, only forty escaped.
He was succeeded by his brother Allan, a child, sub-
ject to the management of guardians. By their good
care, a great portion of the debt to Argyle was paid,
but there still remained sufficient to afford the insa-
tiable enemy of his house a fair pretext of aggres-
sion. The case was again brought before the Scottish
Council ; it was even referred to Charles the Second ;
but, by the representations of the Duke of Lauderdale,
the Argyle influence prevailed. The famous Marquis
of Argyle was, indeed, no longer in existence ; he
had perished on the scaffold : but his son still grasped
at the possessions of his neighbour; and, although
King Charles desired that Lauderdale " should see that
Maclean had justice," the Duke, who was then Scot-
tish Lord Commissioner, on his return to Scotland,
decided that the rents of the estates should be made
payable to Argyle on account of the bond, a cer-
tain portion of them being reserved for the main-
tenance of the chief.
Sir Allan died a little more than a year after
this decision had been made, ignorant of the de-
cree ; and left, to bear the buffeting of the storm,
his son, Sir John Maclean, a child only four years
of age, who succeeded his father in 1677.* His
estates had been placed under the care of two
* According to the Memoirs of Lochiel, it appears that Sir Allan
must have died in 1673 or 1674 ; since the author speaks, in 1674, of
the " late Sir Allan."
SIR JOHN MACLEAN. 133
of his nearest kinsmen, Lachlan Maclean of Brolas,
and Lachlan Maclean of Torloisk, men of profound
judgment and of firm character, from whose guar-
dianship much was expected by the clan. But
the minor possessed a friend as true as any kins-
man could be, and one of undoubted influence and
sagacity, in the celebrated Sir Ewan Cameron of
Lochiel. Against his interest, in despite of Argyle,
that brave and noble man espoused the cause of the
weak and of the fatherless, notwithstanding that he
was himself a debtor to Argyle, of whose power and
will to injure he had shortly a proof. Finding that
Lochiel was resolved to protect and assist the young
Maclean, the Earl of Argyle * sent to demand from
Sir Ewan the payment of the debt he owed, assuring
him that it was his intention to follow ou$ the law
with the greatest rigour. Sir Ewan answered that he
had not the money to pay, neither would he act
against his friends. This threat, however, obliged Sir
Ewan to continue in arms, contrary to proclamation,
and also to obtain a protection from the Privy Council
in Edinburgh, against the vengeance of Argyle.
But that which occasioned the greatest vexation to
Sir Ewan, was an opportunity which he conceived
that the tutors or guardians of the young Maclean had
lost the power of emancipating their ward from
the clutches of Argyle's power. This, he thought,
might have been effected upon the forfeiture of the
Marquis of Argyle to the Crown, when he considered
* Archibald, ninth Earl, was only restored to the Earldom.
134 SIR JOHN MACLEAN.
that an opportunity might have been afforded to
Maclean's guardians to release their ward from Ar-
gyle's hands, by a transaction with certain credi-
tors of that nobleman, to whom the sum claimed
by Argyle from Maclean had been promised, but
never paid. Thus, by an unaccountable oversight, the
power of the Argyle family over the fortunes of the
Macleans was continued.
Under these adverse circumstances, Sir John Maclean
succeeded to his inheritance. His principal guardian,
although bearing a high a reputation among the clan,
was esteemed by Sir Ewan as " a person who seems
to have been absolutely unfitt for manageing his affairs
att such a juncture " * and soon proved to be far
too easy and credulous to contest with the crafty
Campbells. Full of compassion for the helpless infant
chief, Sir Ewan now resolved never to abandon the
Macleans until matters were adjusted between them.
He passed the winter of the year in Edinburgh, where
he was, at one time, so much incensed against the
Earl of Argyle for his cruelty to the Macleans, and
so indignant at his conduct to himself, that the va-
liant chief of the Camerons was with difficulty re-
strained by his servant from shooting Argyle as he
stepped into his coach to attend the council, f
Whilst the counsels of Sir Ewan Cameron prevailed
with the guardians, the Macleans remained merely on
the defensive ; but when the insinuations of Lord
Macdonald, who had much influence with one of the
* Memoirs of Lochiel, p. 196. t Id. p. 198.
SIR JOHN MACLEAN. 135
young heir's guardians, were listened to, the Macleans
were incited to reprisals and plunder, to which it was
at all times na difficult matter to stimulate High-
landers.
At length the powerful and mortal foe succeeded
to his heart's content in his scheme of oppression.
Argjle, in his capacity of Hereditary Justiciary of the
Isles, summoned the clan Maclean to appear and stand
their trials for treasonable convocations, garrisoning
their houses and castles, &c. ; the unfortunate clans-
men, knowing their enemy to be both judge and
evidence, did not obey. Immediately they were de-
clared rebels and outlaws, and a commission of fire
and sword was issued against them. All communica-
tion between them and the Privy Council, who might
have redressed their wrongs, was cut off : those who
happened to fall into the hands of the Campbells,
were cruelly treated ; and those who styled themselves
Maclean were blockaded in the Islands, and almost
starved for want of provisions. Reduced in strength
by the battle of Inverkeithing, the clan was but ill-
prepared to resist so formidable a foe as Argyle, whose
men, therefore, landed without opposition, the people
flying to their mountains as the enemy approached.
The young chief was sent, for protection, first to the
fortified island of Thernburg, and afterwards to Kin-
tail, under the care of the Earl of Seaforth, who had,
not long previously, acted as a sort of arbitrator in
the affairs of the family.*
* Mem. of Lochiel, p. 195. Hist, Acct. of the Clan, p. 174,
136 SIR JOHN MACLEAN.
While Sir John Maclean was thus, probably, un-
conscious of his wrongs and dangers, secured ,from
personal injury, the strong old Castle of Duart was
taken possession of by Argyle, who, finding it gar-
risoned, was obliged to publish an indemnity, which
he had obtained on purpose, remitting all crimes com-
mitted by the Macleans since the eighteenth of Sep-
tember, 1674, on condition that the castle should be
delivered to him, a demand with which the islanders
were forced to comply. But in vain did Argyle en-
deavour to prevail upon the honest and simple clans-
men to renounce their allegiance to their chief, and to
become his vassals.* Every species of indignity and
of plunder was inflicted upon these hapless, but faith-
ful Highlanders in vain ; a " monster," as he is termed,
" bearing the stamp of human appearance, named Sir
Neill Campbell," in vain chased the poor inhabitants
to the hills, and there exhibited acts of cruelty
too shocking to be related. A promise, however, of
payment of rents was at last obtained by Argyle,
and he left the island, after garrisoning the castles.
But this tribute was never paid. The Macleans could
neither bear to see the halls of Duart and of Aros
Castle tenanted by their foes, nor would they submit
to pay to them their rents. A league of defence was
again formed ; letters of fire and sword were, in con-
sequence, issued ; but Argyle was baffled by a hurri-
cane in his second invasion of Duart. Nature con-
spired with the injured in their protection ; and,
* Memoirs of Lochiel.
SIR JOHN MACLEAN. 137
after some time, the guardians of Sir John. Maclean,
accompanied by Lord Macdonald, proceeded to Lon-
don in order to appeal to the Privy Council. The
appeal thus made was prolonged until the year 1680,
when it was at last settled by the Scottish Council ;
and the island of Tyrie was given to the Earl of Ar-
gyle, in full payment of his claim upon the estates
of Sir John Maclean.
The character of the young chief was, meantime,
formed under the influence of the ( se events, of which,
when he grew up, whilst yet the storm raged, he could
not be ignorant. One principle he inherited from his
ancestors a determined fidelity to the Stuart cause.
When he was fifteen years of age, the death of his
guardians threw the management of his affairs into
his own hands ; this was in the years 1686 and 1687,
one of the most critical periods in English history.
Having appointed certain gentlemen his agents, or fac-
tors, the young chief went, according to the fashion of
his times, to travel. He first repaired to the Court of
England, at that time under the sway of James the
Second ; he then crossed to France, and returned
not to the British dominions until he accompanied
James into Ireland.
The character of Sir John Maclean, as he attained
manhood, and entered into the active business of life,
has been drawn with great felicity by the author of
" The Memoirs of Lochiel."*
" He was," says this writer, " of a person and dis-
* Supposed to be John Drummond of Balhaldy.
138 SIR JOHN MACLEAN.
position more turned for the court and the camp,
than for the business of a private life. There was
a natural vivacity and politeness in his manner, which
he afterwards much improved by a courtly education ;
and, as his person was well-made and gracefull, so he
took care to sett it off by all the ornaments and
luxury of dress. He was of a sweet temper, and
good-natured. His witt lively and sparkeling, and his
humour pleasant and facetious. He loved books, and
acquired the languages with great facility, whereby
he cultivated and enriched his understanding with all
manner of learning, but especially the belles let-
tres ; add to this, a natural elegancy of expression,
and ane inexhaustible fancy, which, on all occasions,
furnished him with such a copious variety of matter,
as rendered his conversation allways new and enter-
taining. But with all these shining qualitys, the na-
tural indolence of his temper, and ane immoderate
love of pleasure, made him unsuiteable to the circum-
stances of his family. No persons talked of affairs,
private or publick, with a better grace, or more
to the purpose, but he could not prevail with him-
self to be att the least trouble in the execution.
He seemed to know everything, and from the smallest
hint so penetrated into the circumstances of other
people's buisiness, that he often did great services by
his excellent advice ; and he was of a temper so kind
and obligeing, that he was fond of every occasion of
doeing good to his friends, while he neglected many
inviteing opportunities of serveing himself/'
SIR JOHN MACLEAN. 139
The first hostilities between France and England,
after the Revolution, broke out in Ireland, whence
it was the design of James the Second to incite his
English and Scottish subjects to his cause. And there
was, apparently, ample grounds for hope ; England was
rent with factions, Lord Dundee was raising a civil war
in Scotland, and half Europe was in contention with
the other, whether the late King of England should be
supported.
"I will recover my own dominions with my own
subjects/' was the boast of James, " or perish in the
attempt." Unhappily, like his son, his magnanimity
ended in expressions.
Sir John Maclean accompanied James when he
landed, on the twelfth of March, 1689, in Ireland;
after the siege of Derry, the chief returned to Scotland,
accompanied by Sir Alexander Maclean of Otter,
and there very soon showed his determination in favour
of the insurrection raised by Dundee.
Sir John Maclean's first step was to send Maclean
of Lochbuy as his lieutenant with three hundred men
to join Dundee. His party encountered a major of
General Mackay's army at Knockbreak in Badenoch ;
a conflict ensued, and Mackay's men were put to flight.
This was the first blood that was shed for James the
Second in Scotland.
Sir John Maclean soon afterwards joined Dundee in
person, leaving his castle of Duart well defended.
This fort, which had witnessed so many invasions, was
besieged during the absence of the chief by Sir George
140 SIR JOHN MACLEAN.
Rooke, who cannonaded it several days without effect.
Its owner, meantime, had joined Dundee, and was ap-
pointed to the command of the right wing of the army.
At the battle of Killicrankie, Sir John Maclean
distinguished himself, as became the descendant of a
brave and loyal race, at the head of his clan ; he
probably witnessed the death of Dundee. Few events
in Scottish history could have affected those who fol-
lowed a General to the field so severely. Lord Dundee
had been foremost on foot during the action ; he
was foremost on horseback, when the enemy retreated,
in the pursuit. He pressed on to the mouth of the
Pass of Killicrankie to cut off the escape. In a short
time he perceived that he had overrun his men : he
stopped short : he waved his arm in the air to make
them hasten their speed. Conspicuous in his person
he was observed ; a musket-ball was aimed at that
extended arm ; it struck him, and found entrance
through an opening in his armour. The brave General
was wounded in the arm-pit. He rode off the field,
desiring that the mischance might not be disclosed, and
fainting, dropped from his horse. As soon as he was
revived, he desired to be raised, and looking towards
the field of battle asked how things went. " Well,"
was the reply. " Then," he said, " I am well/ 7 and
expired.
William the Third understood the merits of his
brave opponent. An express was sent to Edin-
burgh with an account of the action. " Dundee/' said
the King (and the soldier spoke), "must be dead, or
SIR JOHN MACLEAN. 141
he would have been at Edinburgh before the express."
When urged to send troops to Scotland, " It is need-
less," he answered ; " the war ended with Dundee's
life." And the observation was just : a peace was soon
afterwards concluded.*
Sir John Maclean, nevertheless, continued in arms
under the command of Colonel Cannon, and lost
several brave officers by the incapacity of this com-
mander. After the peace was signed, he returned to
live upon his estates, until Argyle, having procured
a commission from William to reduce the Macleans
by fire or sword, invaded the island of Mull with two
thousand five hundred men. Sir John being un-
prepared to resist him, after advising his vassals
to accept protection from Argyle, again retired to
the island of Thernburg, whence he captured several
of King William's vessels which were going to supply
the army in Ireland.f
The massacre of Glencoe operated in some respects
favourably, after the tragedy had been completed, upon
the circumstances of the Jacobites. Terrified at the
odium incurred, a more lenient spirit was henceforth
shown to them by Government. Many persons were
exempted from taking the oaths, and were allowed to
remain in their houses. Early in the year 1792, Sir
John Maclean took advantage of this favourable turn
of affairs, and, after obtaining permission through the
influence of Argyle, and placing the castle of Duart
under that nobleman's control, he went to England.
* Dalrymple's Memorials, p. 358. f Hist. Acct. p. 198.
142 SIR JOHN MACLEAN.
He soon became a favourite at the Court of one
who, if we except the massacre of Glencoe, evinced few
dispositions of cruelty to the Scottish Jacobites. King
William is said, nevertheless, to have had a real anti-
pathy to the Highlanders ; and Queen Mary, whose
heart turned to the adherents of her forefathers, was
obliged to conceal her partiality for her Northern sub-
jects. It had appeared, however, on several occasions,
during the absence of her consort, and was now evinced
in her good offices to the chief of the clan Maclean.
That the chief was of a deportment to confirm the
kind sentiments thus shown towards him, the character
which has been given of him amply proves.
Sir John Maclean was, as the author of Sir Ewan
Cameron's life relates, " the only person of his party
that went to Court, which no doubt contributed much
to his being so particularly observed by the Queen,
who received him most graciously, honoured him fre-
quently with her conversation, and said many kind and
obliging things to him. Sir John on his part acquitted
himself with so much politeness and address, that her
Majesty soon began to esteem him. He took the proper
occasions to inform her of the misfortunes of his family,
and artfully insinuated that he and his predecessors
had drawn them all upon themselves by the services
they had rendered to her grandfather, father, and
uncle. She answered, that the antiquity and merit of
his family were no strangers to her ears ; and that,
though she had taken a resolution never to interpose
* Memoirs of Lochiel, p. 326.
SIR JOHN MACLEAN. 143
betwixt her father's friends and the King her husband,
yet, she would distinguish him so far as to recommend
his services to his Majesty by a letter under her own
hand ; and that she doubted not but that it would
have some influence, since it was the first favour of
that nature which she had ever demanded."
Sir John is, however, declared by another authority
to have declined the commission thus offered to him.
Although he had received King James's permission to
reconcile himself with the Government, he did not, it
appears, choose to bear arms in its defence. Such is
the statement of one historian/"" By another it is
said that " Sir John was much caressed while he
continued in the army,"f a sentence which certainly
seems to imply that he had assented to King William's
offer. At all events, he managed to engage the con-
fidence of the King so far, that William " not only
honoured him with his countenance, but told
Argyle that he must part with Sir John's estate, and
that he himself would be the purchaser."
The nobleman to whom William addressed this
injunction was of a very different temper from his
father and grandfather, who had both died on the
scaffold. Archibald, afterwards created by William
Duke of Argyle, had in 1685 become the head of that
powerful family ; he was of a frank, noble, and
generous disposition. " He loved," says the same
writer, " his pleasures, affected magnificence, and
* Hist. Account of the Maclean Family, p. 198.
t Memoirs of Lochiel, p. 326.
144 SIR JOHN MACLEAN.
valued money no further than as it contributed to
support the expence which the gallantry of his temper
daily put him to. He several times offered very easy
terms to Sir John ; and particularly he made one
overture of quitting all his pretentious to that estate,
on condition of submitting to be the Earl's vassall
for the greatest part of it, and paying him two thou-
sand pounds sterling, which he had then by him in
ready money ; but the expensive gayety of Sir John's
temper made him unwilling to part with the money,
and the name of a vassall suited as ill with his vanity,
which occasioned that and several other proposals
to be refused. However, as - the generous Earl was
noways uneasy to part with the estate, so he, with his
usewall frankness, answered King William that his
Majesty might always command him and his fortunes ;
and that he submitted his claim upon Sir John's
estate, as he did everything else, to his royal plea-
sure."
A tradition exists in the family, that when Argyle
sent messengers with his proposals to the Castle of
Duart, Sir John pushed away the boat, as it neared
the shore, with his own hands. This was worthy the
pride of a Highland chieftain.
To such a height, in short, did William's favour
amount, and so far did he in this instance carry his
usual policy of conciliating his enemies by courtesy
and aid, that he ordered Maclean to go as a volunteer
in his service, assuring him that he would see that no
harm was done to his property in his absence. Sir
SIR JOHN MACLEAN. 145
John, previous to his intended departure from England,
went to Scotland to put his affairs in order. On his
return he was told by Queen Mary that there were
reports to his prejudice ; he denied them, and satisfied
the Queen that all suspicions of his fidelity were un-
founded. Upon the strength of this assurance the
Queen wrote in Maclean's favour to the King, in
Holland, whither Sir John then proceeded to join his
Majesty. But this profession of fidelity to one
monarch soon proved to be hollow. Maclean was
truly one of the politicians of the day, swayed by
every turn of fortune, and cherishing a deep regard
for his own interest in his heart. To inspire dislike
and distrust wherever he desired to secure allegiance
was the lot of William, of whom it has been bitterly
said, that in return for having delivered three king-
doms from popery and slavery, he was, before having
been a year on the throne, repaid " with faction in
one of them, with rebellion in the other, and with
both in the third. " How expressive was the exclama-
tion wrung from him, " that he wished he had never
been King of Scotland/' Sir John Maclean was one
of those who added another proof to the King's con-
viction, " that the flame of party once raised, it was in
vain to expect that truth, justice, or public interest
could extinguish it."*
On arriving at Bruges, Maclean heard of the battle
of Landau, in which the French army had proved vic-
torious against the Confederates ; and at the same
* Dalrymple, p. 383.
VOL. II. L
146 SIR JOHN MACLEAN.
time a report prevailed that a counter revolution had
taken place in England, and that William was already
dethroned. Sir John changed his course upon this
intelligence, and hastened to St. Germains, where he
was, as might be expected, coldly received. He re-
mained there until the death of William, and then he
married the daughter of Sir Engeas Macpherson of
Skye.
Upon the accession of Anne, Sir John took advan-
tage of the general indemnity offered to those who
had gone abroad with James the Second, and re-
solved to avail himself of this opportunity of return-
ing home ; but, unluckily, he was detained until a
day after the act had specified, by the confinement
of his wife, who was taken ill at Paris, and there, in
November 1703, gave birth to a son, who afterwards
succeeded to the baronetcy. Although there was some
risk in proceeding, yet Sir John, trusting to the
Queen's favourable disposition to the Jacobites, em-
barked, and with his wife and child reached London.
There he was immediately committed to the Tower,
but his imprisonment had a deeper source than the
mere delay of a few weeks. The Queensbury plot at
that time agitated the public, and produced con-
siderable embarrassment in the counsels of state.*
It appears that Sir John Maclean had taken no
part in this obscure transaction which could affect
his honour, or impair his chance of favour from Queen
* Dalrymple's Memorials. See Collection of Original Papers, p. 31.
Sir John Maclean's Discovery, Part II. p. 4.
SIR JOHN MACLEAN. 147
Anne ; for, so soon as he was liberated, she bestowed
upon him a pension of five hundred pounds a-year,
which he enjoyed during the remainder of his life.
For some years Sir John Maclean continued to
divide his time between London and the Highlands,
where he frequently visited his firm friend Sir Ewan
Cameron of Lochiel, at his Castle of Achnacarry. His
estates had not been materially benefited by the brief
sunshine of King William's favour. Upon finding that
Maclean had gone to St. Germains, that monarch had
confirmed to the Duke of Argyle the former grant of
the island of Tyrie, which the successors of the Duke
have since uninterruptedly enjoyed until the present
day. Its value was, at the time of its passing into the
hands of the Campbells, about three hundred pounds
sterling per annum.* The chief of the clan Maclean
was certain never to escape the suspicions of the
Government, after the death of Anne, during whose
reign the Highlanders experienced an unwonted de-
gree of tranquillity. Upon her demise the whole
state of affairs was changed ; and none experienced
greater inconveniences from the vigilance of Govern-
ment than Sir Ewan Cameron and his friend Maclean.
Lochiel, as his biographer observes, " drank deeply of
this bitter cup." f
It was during one of Maclean's visits to Achnacarry,
when in company with his now venerable friend, that
the Governor of Fort William attempted to take him
and Sir Ewan prisoners, but they made their escape.
* Mem. of Locheil, p. 352. t Id. p. 204.
L 2
148 SIR JOHN MACLEAN.
During the night of their flight, however, Sir John
Maclean caught a severe cold, which ended afterwards
fatally.
When the Earl of Mar raised the standard of the
Chevalier in Scotland, Sir John joined him at Ach-
terarder, some days before the battle of Sherriff Muir.
In that engagement the clan Maclean distinguished
themselves, and some of their brave chieftains were
killed in the battle. After the day was over, Sir
John retired to Keith, where he parted from his fol-
lowers, never to rejoin them. A consumption, in-
curred from the cold caught in his escape, was then
far advanced. He declined an offer made to receive
him on board the Chevalier's ship, bound for France,
and went to Gordon Castle, where, on the twelfth of
March, 1716, he expired.
Thus ended a life characterized by no ordinary
share of vicissitude and misfortune. If the fate of
Sir John Maclean be less tragical than that of other
distinguished Jacobites, it was, it must be acknow-
ledged, one replete with anxiety and disappointment.
He may be said to have been peculiarly " born to
trouble." To our modern notions of honour and con-
sistency, his conduct in becoming a courtier of Wil-
liam the Third, appears to betray that unsoundness
and hollowness of political principle which, more or
less, was the prevalent moral disease of the period,
and which was attributable to some of the most cele-
brated men of the day. It undoubtedly forms an
unfavourable contrast to the stern independence of
SIR JOHN MACLEAN. 149
Sir Ewan Cameron of Lochiel, and of other Highland
chieftains, and too greatly resembles the code of
politics adopted by the Earl of Mar. But those who
knew Sir John Maclean intimately, considered him a
man of straightforward integrity; they deemed him
above dissimulation, and have placed his name among
those who despised every worldly advantage for the
sake of principle, and who loved the cause which he
had espoused for its own sake. The broken towers
of Duart and of Aros, the ruins of those once proud
lords of the soil, attest the sacrifices which they made,
and form a melancholy commentary upon their his-
tory.
The castle of Aros, in the Island of Mull, " is in-
teresting," says Macculloch,* " from the picturesque
object which it affords to the artist ; the more so, as
the country is so devoid of scenes on which his pencil
can be exerted. Still more striking, from its greater
magnitude and more elevated position, is Duart Cas-
tle, once the stronghold of the Macleans, and till
lately garrisoned by a detachment from Fort William.
It is fast falling into ruin since it was abandoned as
a barrack. When a few years shall have passed, the-
almost roofless tenant will surrender his spacious apart-
ments to the bat and the owl, and seek shelter, like
his neighbours, in the thatched hovel which rises near
him. But the walls, of formidable thickness, may long
bid defiance even to the storms of this region ; re-
maining to mark to future times the barbarous splen-
* Macculloch's Western Islands of Scotland, vol. i. p. 535.
150 SIR JOHN MACLEAN.
dour of the ancient Highland chieftains, and, with
the opposite fortress of Ardtornish, serving to throw
a gleam of historical interest over the passage of the
Sound of Mull."
Hitherto lona had received the last remains of
the Lords of Duart ; but Sir John Maclean was not
carried to the resting-place of his forefathers. He
was buried in the church of Raffin in Bamffshire, in
the family vault of the Gordons of Buckie. In lona,
that former " light of the western world," are the
tombs of the brave and unfortunate Macleans. Their
bones are interred in the vaults of the cathedral, which,
after coasting the barren rocks of Mull, buffeted by
the waves, the traveller beholds rising out of the sea,
"giving," as it is finely expressed, "to this desolate
region an air of civilization, and recalling the con-
sciousness of that human society which, presenting
elsewhere no visible traces, seems to have abandoned
these rocky shores to the cormorant and the gull."
On the tombs of the Highland warriors who repose
within St. Mary's Church in lona, are sculptured
ships, swords, armorial bearings, appropriate memo-
rials to the island lords, or, as the Chevalier not in-
aptly called them, " little kings ;" and, undistinguish-
able from the graves of the chiefs, are the funereal
allotments of the Kings of Scotland, Iceland, and
Norway.*
Sir John Maclean left one son and six daughters.
His son Hector was born in France, but brought
* Macculloch, vol. i. p. 13.
SIR JOHN MACLEAN. 151
to Scotland at the age of four, and placed under the
care of his kinsman, Maclean of Coll, where he re-
mained until he was eighteen years of age ; when he
repaired to Edinburgh, and in the college made con-
siderable progress in the usual course of studies in
that institution. After various journeys abroad, chiefly
to Paris, Sir Hector Maclean returned in 1745 to
Edinburgh, intending again to lead his clansmen to
the standard of Prince Charles ; but a temporary im-
prisonment, occasioned by the treachery of a man in
whose house he lodged, prevented his appearance in
the field. He was detained in confinement until re-
leased as a subject of the King of France. He died at
Eome in the year 1758, in the forty-seventh year of his
age. At his death the title of Baronet devolved upon
Allan of Brolas, great-grandson of Donald, first Mac-
lean of Brolas, and younger brother of the first baronet.
Although the chief was thus prevented from follow-
ing Prince Charles to the field of Culloden, many
of his clan distinguished themselves there ; Charles
Maclean of Drimnin appeared at the head of five hun-
dred of the clan, and his regiment, which was under
the command of the Duke of Perth, was among those
that broke forward with drawn swords from the lines,
and routed the left wing of the Duke of Cumberland's
army. The whole of the front line of this gallant
regiment was swept away as they presented them-
selves before their foes. They were afterwards over-
powered by numbers, and obliged to retire. Their
leader, as he retreated, inquired for one of his sons,
152 SIR JOHN MACLEAN.
who was missing. " I fear," said an attendant, to
whom the inquiry was addressed, " that he has fallen."
The fate of the father is well told in these few words,*
" If he has, it shall not be for naught," was his
reply ; and he rushed forward to avenge him.
Many of the clan fell in the massacre after the bat-
tle of Culloden Muir. Hundreds of the Highlanders
who escaped the inhumanity of their conquerors, died
of their wounds or of hunger, in the hills, at twelve or
fourteen miles' distance from the field of battle. " Their
misery," says a contemporary writer, " was inexpres-
sible." While the cannon was sounding, and bells were
pealing in the capital cities of England and Ireland, for
the united events of the Duke of Cumberland's birth
and the battle of Culloden Moor, fires were seen
blazing in Morvern, in which numerous villages were
burned by order of the victorious Cumberland. The
Macleans who came from Mull, seem generally to have
escaped ; they made off in one of the long boats for
their island, the night after the engagement, and were
fortunate enough to carry with them a cargo of brandy
and some money, f
A calmer, though less interesting career has, since
1745, been the fate of the chiefs of the clan Maclean.J
* Hist. Notices of the Macleans, p. 206.
t Hist, of the Rebellion, p. 199. From the Scots' Magazine, Aber-
deen, 1745.
An accomplished descendant of the Macleans of Lochbuy, Miss
Moss, of Edinburgh, has left a beautiful tribute to the valour of her clan
in a ballad of the forty-five. The following passage occurs in Dr.
Brown's History of the Highlands, vol. iv. part n. p. 493, relative to the
Macleans of Lochbuy, Coll, and Ardgour : " Their estates being after-
SIR JOHN MACLEAN. 153
Sir Allan, respected and beloved, became a colonel in
the British army. He retired eventually to the sacred
Isle of Inch Kenneth, in Mull, where he exercised the
hospitality characteristic, in ancient times, of the
Lords of Duart. Dr. Johnson has handed down the
memory of the venerable chief, not only in a few de-
scriptive pages of a Tour to the Hebrides, but in a
Latin poem, translated by Sir Daniel Sandford.* In
the lines he refers to Sir Allan in these terms.
" O'er glassy tides I thither flew,
The wonders of the spot to view ;
In lowly cottage great Maclean
Held there his high ancestral reign." -f-
Sir Allan Maclean died in 1783 : he was succeeded
by his nearest male relation, Sir Hector Maclean, of
the family of Brolas. The brother of Sir Hector, Sir
Fitzroy Grafton Maclean, a distinguished officer, and
formerly Governor of the island of St. Thomas, is now
chief of the clan Maclean. Two sons continue the line.
Of these, the eldest, Colonel Charles Fitzroy Maclean,
has chosen, like his father, the profession of arms. He
wards restored, they listened 'to the persuasions of Professor Forbes, and
remained quiet until the subsequent insurrection of 1745, when a general
rising of the clans would most probably have placed the crown upon the
head of the descendant of their ancient line of kings." This reproach
rests only on the three houses just mentioned, and not on the Macleans
of Brolas, nor of Mull, who were at the battle of Culloden.
For a portion of the materials of the foregoing narrative I am greatly
indebted to the Historical and Genealogical Account of the Clan Maclean,
by a Seneachie. The work is compiled chiefly from the Duart Manu-
scripts.
* Hist. Notices, p. 209.
t See History of lona by Lachlan Maclean, Esq., Glasgow.
154 SIR JOHN MACLEAN.
commands the eighty-first foot ; and has, by his mar-
riage with a daughter of the Hon. and Rev. Dr. Mar-
sham, an heir to the ancestral honours of the house.
The youngest son of Sir Fitzroy Maclean is Donald
Maclean, of Witton Castle, Durham, the member for
Oxford, married to Harriet, daughter of General Fre-
derick Maitland, a descendant of the Duke of Lauder-
dale, whose former injustice to the clan Maclean has
been noticed in this work. It is remarkable, that the
same fidelity, the same loyalty, that sacrificed every
possession to the cause of James Stuart, has been,
since the extinction of that cause, worthily employed,
with distinguished talent and success, in the service of
Government. Such instances are not uncommon in
the history of the Jacobites.
155
EOB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL.
" THE Clan Gregiour," according to an anony-
mous writer of the seventeenth century, " is a race of
men so utterly infamous for thieving, depredation,
and murder, that after many Acts of the Council of
Scotland against them, at length in the reign of King
Charles the First, the Parliament made a strict Act
suppressing the very name." Upon the Restoration,
when, as the same writer declares, " the reins were
given to all licentiousness, and loyalty, as it was
called, was thought sufficient to compound for all
wickedness, the Act was rescinded. But, upon the
late happy Revolution, when the nation began to
recover her senses, some horrid barbarities having
been committed by that execrable crew, under the
leading of one Robert Roy Macgregiour, yet living,
the Parliament under King William and Queen Mary
annulled the said Act rescissory, and revived the
former penal statute against them."*
Such is the summary account of one who is evi-
dently adverse to the political creed, no less than to
the daring violence, of the clan Macgregor. Little
can, it is true, be offered in palliation for the extra-
* From the Wodrow MS. in the Advocate's Library.
156 ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL.
ordinary career of spoliation and outrage which the
history of this race of Highlanders presents; and
which terminated only with the existence of the clan
itself.
The clan Gregor, anciently known by the name
of clan Albin, dated their origin from the ninth cen-
tury, and assumed to be the descendants of King
Alpin, who flourished in the year 787: so great is
its antiquity, that an old chronicle asserts, speaking
of the clan Macarthur, "that none are older than that
clan, except the hills, the rivers, and the clan Al-
bin."
Among the conflicts which for centuries rendered
the Highlands the theatre of perpetual strife, the
clan Albin, or, as in process of time it was called, the
clan Gregor, was marked as the most turbulent
members of the state. It was never safe to dispute
with them, and was deemed idle to inquire whether the
lands which they occupied were theirs by legal titles,
or by the right of the sword. Situate on the con-
fines of Scotland, and protected by the inaccessible
mountains which surrounded them, they could defy
even their most powerful neighbours, who were
always desirous of conciliating allies so dangerous
in times of peace, so prompt in war. The bounda-
ries which they occupied stretched along the wilds of
the Trosaehs and Balquhidder, to the northern and
western heights of Mannach and Glenurely, compre-
hending portions of the counties of Argyle, Perth,
Dumbarton, and Stirling, which regions obtained the
ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL. 157
name of the country of the Mac Gregors. A part of
these domains being held by the coir d glaive, or
right of the sword, exposed the clan Gregor to the
enmity of their formidable neighbours, the Earls of
Argyle and Breadalbane, who, obtaining royal grants
of such lands, lost no opportunity of annoying and
despoiling their neighbours, under legal pretexts.
Hence many of the contests which procured for the
Macgregors a character of ferocity, and brought upon
them ' letters of fire and sword/ A commission was
granted first in the reign of Queen Mary, in 1563, to
the most powerful clansmen and nobles, to pursue,
and exterminate the clan Gregor, and prohibiting, at
the same time, that -her Majesty's liege subjects
should receive or assist any of the clan, or give them
meat, drink, or clothes. The effect which such an
edict was likely to produce upon a bold, determined,
desperate people may readily be conceived. Hither-
to the clan Gregor had been a loyal clan. From the
house of Alpin had descended the royal family of
Stewart, with whom the Macgregors claimed kin-
dred, bearing upon their shields, in Gaelic, the words,
4 My tribe is royal.' They had been also in favour
with the early Scottish monarchs, one of whom had
ennobled the Macgregors of Glenurely, who could
cope with the most elevated families in Scotland,
in possessions and importance. But, after the edict
of Mary, a palpable decline in the fortunes of the
clan Gregor was manifest, until it was for ever ex-
tinguished in modern days. Henceforth the Mac-
158 ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL.
gregors exhibited a contempt for those laws which had
never afforded them protection. They became, in
consequence of the cruel proclamation against them,
dependent for subsistence upon their system of pre-
datory warfare. They grew accustomed to bloodshed,
and could easily be ' hounded out,' as Sir Walter Scott
expresses it, to commit deeds of violence. Hence
they were incessantly engaged in desperate feuds, in
which the vengeance of an injured and persecuted
people was poured out mercilessly upon the defence-
less. Hence they became objects of hatred to the
community, until the famous contest of Glenfruin, be-
tween the Macgregors and the Colquhouns of Luss,
brought once more the royal displeasure upon them
in the reign of James the Sixth.
The sequestered valley, which obtained, from the
memorable and tragical events of the combat, the
name of the Glen of Sorrow, is situated about six miles
from Loch Lomond, and is watered by the river Fruin
which empties itself into that lake. In the spring
of the year 1603, Alexander of Glenstrae, chief of
the Macgregors, went from the country of Lennox to
Balquhidder, for the express purpose of conciliating
the feuds which subsisted between his brother and
Sir Humphrey Colquhoun of Luss. After a confer-
ence, apparently pacific, but well understood by the
Macgregors to augur no friendly intentions, the
assembled members of that clan prepared to return to
their homes. They were followed by the Laird of
Luss, who was resolved to surprise them on their
ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL. 159
route. But his treachery was secretly known by
those whom he pursued.
The right bank of Loch Lomond is so steep and
woody that before the formation of roads, the High-
landers found it impossible to pass that way. The
way to Argyleshire, therefore, ran 'along the vale of
Fruin, in a circuitous direction to the head of Loch
Long, and again turned eastward towards Loch
Lomond. In the middle of the glen the Macgregors,
who were peacefully returning home, were attacked
by the Colquhouns. The assailants were four to, one;
but the valour of the Macgregors prevailed, and two
hundred Colquhouns were left dead on the field. The
very name of Colquhoun was nearly annihilated.
The account of the battle was transmitted by the
Laird of Luss to James the Sixth, at Edinburgh;
and the message was accompanied by two hundred
and twenty shirts, stained with blood, which were pre-
sented to the King by sixty women, widows of those
slain in the Glen of Sorrow. These ladies rode on
white poneys, and carried in their hands long poles, OIL
which were extended the stained garments. But the
shirts, it is said, were soiled by the way, and the
widows were hireling mourners, who comforted them-
selves with the loved beverages of their country on
their return, and were in many instances obliged to
be carried to their homes.'* 5 '
The indignation of James the Sixth, unmitigated
by any friendly representations on behalf of the
* Macleay's History of the Macgregors, p. 110.
160 ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL.
Macgregors, burst forth fatally for the clan. The
Macgregors were formally outlawed by Act of Parlia-
ment ; they were pursued with blood-hounds, and when
seized, were put to death without trial. Their chief,
the unfortunate Alexander of Glenstrae surrendered
to his enemy the Earl of Argyle, with eighteen of his
followers, on condition that he might be taken safely
out of Scotland. But the severity of Government
stopped not here. The very name of Gregor was
blotted out, by an order in Council, from the names
of Scotland. Those who had hitherto borne it were
commanded to change it under pain of death, and
were forbidden to retain the appellations which they
had been accustomed from their infancy to cherish.
Those who had been at Glenfruin were also deprived
of their weapons, excepting a pointless knife to cut
their victuals. They were never to assemble in any
number exceeding four ; and by an Act of Par-
liament passed in 1617, these laws were extended to
the rising generation, lest as the children of the pro-
scribed parents grew up, the strength of the clan
should be restored.
For these severe acts, the only apology that can be
offered is the unbridled fury and cruelty of the Mac-
gregors, when irritated; of which it is necessary to
mention one instance, as an example of the many left
on record, of which the clan were convicted.
In the battle of Glenfruin, which James had visited
so rigorously upon the Macgregors, the greater part
of those who bore the name of Colquhoun were ex-
ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL. 161
terminated. Yet a still more savage act was perpe-
trated after the day was won.
The town of Dumbarton contained, at that time, a
seminary famous for learning, where many of the Col-
quhouns, as well as the sons of the neighbouring gen-
try, were sent for education. Upon hearing of the
encounter at G-lenfruin, eighty of these high-spirited
boys set off to join their relatives; but the Colqu-
houns, anxious for the safety of their young kinsfolk,
would not permit them to join in the fight, but locked
them up in a barn for safety. Here they remained,
until the event of the day left the Macgregors masters
of what might well be called " the Glen of Sorrow."
The boys, growing impatient for their release, be-
came noisy ; when the Macgregors, discovering their
hiding-place, and thirsting for vengeance, set fire
to the barn, and the young inmates were con-
sumed. According to another account, they were all
put to the sword by one of the guard, a Macgregor,
whose distinctive appellation was Ciar Mohr, " the
mouse-coloured man." When the chief of the Mac-
gregor's clan repaired to the barn, and, knowing that
the boys were the sons of gentlemen, was desirous of
ensuring their safety, he asked their guards where
they were. When told of what had occurred, Mac-
gregor broke out into the exclamation, that. " his clan
was ruined." The sad event was commemorated, un-
til the year 1757, by an annual procession of the
Dumbarton youths, to a field at some distance from
their school, where they enacted the melancholy cere-
VOL. II. M
162 ROB ROY MA.CGREGOR CAMPBELL.
monial of a mock funeral, over which they set up a
loud lamentation. The site of the farm where this
scene was enacted is still pointed out; and near it
runs a rivulet, the Gaelic name of which signifies
" the burn of the young ghosts:" so deep was the
memory of this horrible deed.*
A fearful retribution followed the clan for years.
They had no friend at Court to plead their cause ; and
the most cruel hardships became the lot of the inno-
cent, as well as the guilty, of their clan. The country
was filled with troops ready to destroy them, so that
all who were able, were forced to fly to rocks, caverns,
and to hide themselves among the woods. Few of
the Macgregors, at this period of the Scottish history,
were permitted to die a natural death.
As an inducement to the murder of these wretched
people, a reward was offered for every head of a
Macgregor that was conveyed to the Privy Council
at Edinburgh. Those who died a natural death
were buried in silence and secrecy by their kins-
folk, for the graves of the persecuted clan were not
respected; the bodies of the dead being exhumed,
and the heads cut off, to be sent to the Council.
Never has there been, in the history of mankind,
a more signal instance of national odium than that
which pursued this brave, though violent race.
The spirit in which they were denounced has in it
little of the character of justice, and reminds us of the
* Historical Memoir of the Clan Macgregor, by Dr. Macleay,
p. 109.
ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL. 163
vengeance of the Jewish people upon the different
hostile tribes to whom they were opposed.
In process of time, the last remnant of the lands
pertaining to the Macgregors was bestowed upon Ar-
chibald, seventh Earl of Argyle, whose family had
profited largely by the destruction of the clan : for
every Macgregor whom they had destroyed, they had
received a reward. In 1611, the Earl was command-
ed to root out this thievish and barbarous race; a
commission which he executed remorselessly, dragging
the parents to death, and leaving their offspring to
misery and to revenge ; for the deep consciousness of
their wrongs grew up with the young, and prepared
them for deeds of violence and vengeance.
Notwithstanding the severities of the Stuarts
towards the Macgregors, the loyalty of the clan
continued unimpeachable. It was appreciated by
one who is not celebrated for remembering bene-
fits. Charles the Second had, in 1663, the grace to
remove the proscription from the Macgregors, by an
Act which was passed in the first Scottish Parliament
after his Restoration. He permitted them the use of
their family name, and other privileges of his liege
subjects, assigning as a reason for this act of favour,
that the loyalty and affection of those who were once
called Macgregors, during the late troubles, might
justly wipe off all former reproach from their clan.
This act of grace, according to the anonymous writer
quoted in the commencement of this memoir, was to
be accounted for by the prevalent licentiousness of
M 2
164 ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL.
that monarch's reign. It gave, indeed, but little sa-
tisfaction to the nonconforming Presbyterians, who
saw with resentment that the penalties unjustly im-
posed upon themselves was relaxed in favour of the
Macgregors. But this dissatisfaction was of short
duration. After the Revolution, " an influence,"
says Sir Walter Scott, " inimical to this unfortunate
clan, said to be the same with that which afterwards
dictated the massacre of Glencoe, occasioned the reac-
tion of the penal statutes against the Macgregors." *
It is, however, consolatory to find that the proscrip-
tion was not acted upon during the reign of William.
The name of Macgregor was again heard in public
halls, in parliament, and courts of justice. Still, how-
ever, whilst the statutes remained, it could not legally
be borne. Attempts were made to restore the appel-
lation of clan Alb, but nothing was decided; when,
at length, all necessity for such an alteration was
done away by an Act of Parliament abolishing for
ever the penal statutes against the clan.
Whilst the Macgregors were still a proscribed race,
Robert Macgregor Campbell, or Robert Roy, so called
among his kindred, in the adoption of a Celtic phrase,
expressive of his ruddy complexion and red hair, ap-
peared as their champion. At the time of his birth,
to bear the name of Macgregor was felony; and the
descendant of King Alpin adopted the maiden name
of his mother, a daughter of Campbell of Fanieagle, in
order to escape the penalty of disobedience. His
* Preface to Rob Roy. Waverley Novels.
ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL. 165
father, Donald Macgregor of Glengyle, was a lieu-
tenant-colonel in the King's service : his ancestry was
deduced from Ciar Mohr, " the mouse-coloured man,"
who had slain the young students at the battle of
Glenfruin.
After the death of Allaster Macgregor of Glenstrae,
the last chieftain, the office of chief had ceased to be
held by any representative of the scattered remnant of
this hunted tribe. Various families had ranged them-
selves under the guidance of chieftains, which, among
Highlanders, signifies the head of a branch of a tribe,
in contradistinction to that of chief, who is the leader
of the whole name.'"" The chieftain of Glengyle lived
in the mountainous region between Loch Lomond and
Loch Katrine ; his right to his territories there might
or might not be legal ; it was far more convenient to
his neighbours to waive the question with any member
of this fierce race, than to inquire too rigidly into the
tenure by which the lands were held.
Rob Roy, though he deduced his origin from a
younger son of the Laird of Macgregor, was one of a
family who had, within the preceding century, been
of humble fortunes. His great-grandfather had been
a cotter ; from his grandfather he inherited the gene-
rous temper and the daring spirit which, more or less,
characterized the clan. Callum, or Malcolm, had been
outlawed for an attempt to carry off an heiress, but
obtained his pardon for saving the life of his enemy,
the Duke of Argyle. The date of Rob Roy's birth is
* Sir W. Scott.
166 ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL.
uncertain, but is supposed to have taken place about
the middle of the seventeenth century ; consequently,
after the period when his clan had endured every
variety of fortune, from the cruel edicts of James
the Sixth to the consolatory acts of Charles the
Second.
The education of this extraordinary man was
limited ; and he is said not to have exhibited in his
youth any striking traits of the intrepidity which
distinguished him in after life. But he was endowed
with a vigorous intellect, and with an enthusiasm
which had been deepened by the peculiar circum-
stances of his clan and kinsfolk. It is impossible to
comprehend the character of Rob Roy, unless we look
into the history of his race, as we have briefly done,
and consider how strong must have been the im-
pressions which hereditary feuds, and wrongs visited
upon father and child, had made upon a mind of
no common order.
His youth was occupied in acquiring the rude ac-
complishments of the age. In the management of the
broadsword the ardent and daring boy soon acquired
proficiency ; his frame was robust and muscular, and
his arm of unusual length. At an early age he is
said by tradition to have tried his powers in a pre
datory excursion, of which he was the leader. This
was in the year 1691, and it was called the herdship,
or devastation of Kippen, in the Lennox. No lives
were sacrificed, but the marauding system was carried
to its extent.
ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL. 167
The young Macgregor was educated in the Pres-
byterian faith. " He was not," says his biographer, *
" free from those superstitious notions so prevalent in
his country; and, although few men possessed more
strength of mind in resisting the operation of false
and gloomy tenets, he was sometimes led away from
the principles he had adopted, to a belief in super-
natural appearances." Nor was it likely that it
should be otherwise ; for the wildest dreams of fancy
were cherished in the seclusion of the region, then
inconceivably retired and remote, in which Eob Roy
is said to have passed days in silent admiration of
Nature in her grandest aspects; for the man who
afterwards appeared so stern and rugged to his ene-
mies, was accessible to the tenderest feelings, and to
the most generous sympathies, f
Although his father had succeeded in military life,
Rob Roy was destined to a far more humble occu-
pation. The discrepancy between the Scottish pride
of ancestry and the lowly tracks which are occasion-
ally chalked out for persons of the loftiest pretensions
to origin, is manifest in the destination of Rob Roy.
He became a dealer in cattle. It was, it is true, the
custom for landed proprietors, as well as their tenantry,
to deal in the trade of grazing and selling cattle. In
those days, no Lowlanders, nor any English drovers,
had the audacity to enter the Highlands.
" The cattle," says Sir Walter Scott, "which were
the staple commodity of the mountains, were escorted
* Macleay. t Id.
168 ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL.
down to fairs, on the borders of the Lowlands, by a
party of Highlanders, with their arms rattling round
them ; and who dealt, however, in all faith and honour
with their southern customers." After describing the
nature of the affrays which were the result of such
collision, Sir Walter remarks, " A slash or two, or a
broken head, was easily accommodated, and as the
trade was of benefit to both parties, trifling skirmishes
were not allowed to interrupt its harmony."
For some time, the speculations in which Rob Roy
engaged were profitable; he took a tract of land in
Balquhidder for the purpose of grazing, and his suc-
cess soon raised him in the estimation of the county.
But his cattle were often carried away by hordes of
big robbers from Inverness, Ross, and Sutherland,
and he was obliged, in defence, to maintain a party of
men to repel these incursions. Hence the warlike
tastes which were afterwards 'more fully displayed.
The death of his father placed Rob Roy in an im-
portant situation in his county ; he became, moreover,
guardian to his nephew, Gregor of Macgregor of
Glengyle, a position which gave him great influence
with the clan. He had now become the proprietor
of Craig Royston ; but his ordinary dwelling was at
Inversnaid, from which place he took his appellation,
Macgregor of Inversnaid. These estates were of con-
siderable extent, but of small value: they extended
from the head of Loch Lomond twelve miles along its
eastern border, and stretched into the interior of the
country, partly around the base of Ben Lomond.
ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL. 169
From these estates Rob Roy assumed sometimes the
title of Craig Royston, sometimes that of Baron of
Inversnaid, a term long applied in Scotland to
puisne lairds.*
The influence of an energetic and powerful mind
was now plainly exhibited in the celebrity which Rob
Roy soon acquired in the neighbouring counties. .
The Macgregors had a peculiar constitution in their
clanship, which rendered them compact and formi-
dable as a body. In all the forays so common at that
period, Rob Roy took little or no part ; yet the
terror of his name caused him to receive all the credit
of much that occurred in the vicinity.
Three great noblemen, bitter enemies, sought his
alliance; of these one was James the first Duke of
Montrose, and Archibald tenth Earl of Argyle, who
were opposed to each other not only in political opi-
nions, but from personal dislike. Montrose deemed it
essential to conciliate Rob Roy as a matter of specu-
lation, and entered into a sort of partnership with
the far-famed drover in the buying and selling of
cattle, of which Rob Roy was considered an excellent
judge. Argyle, on the other hand, was conscious of
the injuries which his ancestors had inflicted on the
Macgregors, and was inclined to befriend Rob Roy
from compassion, and a sense of justice. The Earl
was also flattered by the Laird's having assumed the
name of Campbell, which he regarded as a compliment
to himself. But the overtures of Argyle were at first
* Macleay.
170 ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL.
spurned by Rob Roy, whose alliance with the Marquis
of Montrose increased his hatred of Argyle. He was
afterwards won over to more moderate sentiments,
and a lasting friendship was eventually formed be-
tween him and Argyle.
The friendship and patronage of Montrose were
secure until money transactions, the usual source of
alienations and bickerings, produced distrust on the
one hand, and bitterness on the other. Montrose had
advanced Rob Roy certain sums to carry on his spe-
culations: they were successful until the defalcation
of a third and inferior partner prevented Rob Roy
from repaying the Marquis the money due to him.
He was required to give up his lands to satisfy the
demands upon him. For a time he refused, but ulti-
mately he was compelled by a law-suit to mortgage
his estates to Montrose with an understanding that
they were to be restored to him whenever he could
pay the money. Some time afterwards he made an
attempt to recover his estate by the payment of his
debts; but he was at first amused by excuses, and
afterwards deprived of his property. Such is the
simple statement of his partial biographer; but Sir
Walter Scott gives the story a darker colouring. In
his preface to Rob Roy he mentions that Rob Roy
absconded, taking with him the sum of one thousand
pounds which he had obtained from different gentle-
men in Scotland for the purpose of buying cattle.
In 1712 an advertisement to that effect was put into
the daily papers repeatedly; but the active High-
ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL. 171
lander was beyond the reach of law. To this period
we must assign a total change in the habits and cha-
racteristics of Rob Roy, who now began a lawless and
marauding course of life. He went up into the High-
lands, where he was followed by one whose character
has been variously represented Mary Macgregor of
Comar, his wife. According to one account, she was
by no means the masculine and cruel being whom
Scott has so powerfully described; yet, from several
traits, it is obvious that she was one of the most de-
termined of her sex, and that her natural boldness of
spirit was exaggerated by an insult which was never
forgiven, either by herself or by her husband. This
was the forcible expulsion of herself and her family
from their home at Inversnaid by Graham of Killearn,
one of Montrose's agents; and the cruel act was
accompanied by circumstances which nothing but
death could blot from the memory of the outraged ancl
injured Macgregor. The loss of property was nothing
when compared with that one galling recollection.
The kind and once honourable Rob Roy was now
driven to desperation. His natural capacity for war-
like affairs had been improved in the collection of the
black mail, or protection fees ; a service of danger, in
which many a bloody conflict with freebooters had
shown the Macgregors of what materials their leader
was composed. The black mail was a private contri-
bution, often compulsatory, for the maintenance of
the famous black watch, an independent corps of
provincial militia, and so called from the colour of
172 ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL.
their dress, in contradistinction to the red soldiers, or
leidar dearag. " From the time they were first em-
bodied," writes General Stewart, " till they were regi-
mented, the Highlanders continued to wear the dress
of their country. This, as it consisted so much of the
black, green, and blue tartan, gave them a dark and
sombre appearance in comparison with the bright
uniform of the regulars, who, at that time, had coats,
waistcoats, and breeches of scarlet cloth. Hence the
term dhu, or black, as applied to this corps."*
In collecting both the imposts laid on for the main-
tenance of this corps, and in enforcing the black mail,
Rob Roy had already gained the confidence of the
better classes, whilst, by his exploits, he had taught
the freebooter to trembJe at his name. His journeys
to England had not, either, been unprofitable to him
in gaining friends. By a strict regard to his word, a
true Highland quality, he had gained confidence;
whilst his open and engaging demeanour had procured
him friends.
Soon after his expulsion from his property, Rob
Roy travelled into England to collect a sum of money
which was due to him. On returning through Moffat,
his generous indignation was aroused by seeing the
penalty of the law inflicted upon a young girl for
fanaticism : two of her kinsmen had already suffered.
As a party of soldiers were preparing to carry the
girl, bound hand and foot, to a river, Rob Roy inter-
posed ; and, receiving an insolent reply, he sprang upon
* Stewart's Sketches, -vol. i. p. 224.
ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL. 173
the soldiers, and in an instant released the young
woman, by plunging eight of her guards into the
water. He then drew his claymore, and cut the cords
which bound the intended victim. A short skirmish
left him master of the field.
Eob Roy now prepared to remove from his dwelling
at Inversnaid, into one more remote, and protected by
its natural position. This was Craig Royston, or, as
it is sometimes spelt, Graigrostan, whither Rob Roy
removed his furniture and other effects. A tract,
entitled " The Highland Rogue," published during
the lifetime of Rob Roy, contains a striking descrip-
tion of this almost inaccessible retreat. It is situated
on the borders of Loch Lomond, and is surrounded
with stupendous rocks and mountains. The passages
along these heights are so narrow, that two men
cannot walk abreast; " It is a place," adds the same
writer, " of such strength and safety, that one person
well acquainted with it, and supplied with ammuni-
tion, might easily destroy a considerable army if they
came to attack him, and he, at the same time, need
not so much as be seen by them." For this romantic
scene, Rob Roy quitted Inversnaid ; henceforth his oc-
cupation as a grazier and drover, and his character as
a country gentleman, were lost in that of a freebooter.
Many anecdotes have been related of his feats in the
dangerous course which he henceforth adopted : but of
these, some are so extraordinary, as to be incredible ;
others are perfectly consistent with the daring spirit
of a man who had vowed to avenge his wrongs.
174 ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL.
The Duke of Montrose was the first object of his
wrath ; accordingly, hearing that the tenantry of the
Duke had notice to pay their rents, he mustered his
men, and visiting these gentlemen, compelled them to
pay him the money, giving them, nevertheless, re-
ceipts, which discharged them of any future call from
Montrose. This practice he carried on with impu-
nity for several years, until a^more flagrant outrage
drew down the anger of his enemy.
This was no less than the abduction of the Duke's
factor, Killearn, who had formerly expelled the family
of Rob Roy from Inversnaid. Killearn had gone to
Chapellaroch in Stirlingshire, for the purpose of col-
lecting rents ; he anticipated, on this occasion, no
interruption to his office, because Eob Roy had caused
it to be given out, by proclamation, some days before,
that he had gone to Ireland. Towards evening,
nevertheless, he made his appearance before the inn at
Chapellaroch, his piper playing before him ; his fol-
lowers were stationed in a neighbouring wood. The
rents had just been collected, when the sound of the
bagpipes announced to Killearn the approach of his
enemy. The factor sprang up, and threw the bags,
full of money, into a loft. Rob Roy entered, with the
usual salutations, laid down his sword, and sat down
to partake of the entertainment. No sooner was the re-
past ended, than he desired his piper to strike up a
tune. In a few minutes, by this signal, six armed men.
entered the room; when Rob Roy, taking hold of his
sword, asked the factor, " How he had prospered in
ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL. 175
his collection of the rents?" " I have got nothing
yet," replied the trembling Killearn; "I have not
begun to collect." " No, no, Chamberlain," cried
Rob Roy, " falsehood will not do for me. I demand
your book." The book was produced, the money was
found and delivered to Rob Roy, who gave his usual
receipt. After this, the unfortunate factor was car-
ried off to an island near the east of Loch Katrine,
where he was confined a considerable time ; and when
he was released, was warned not to collect the rents
of the country in future, as Rob Roy intended to do
so himself, the more especially as the lands had ori-
ginally belonged to the Macgregors, and he was, there-
fore, only reclaiming his own.*
This predatory war against the Duke of Montrose
was carried on for a considerable time. It was fa-
voured by the nature of the country over which the
freebooter ruled triumphant, and by the secret good
wishes of the Highlanders who resided in the neigh-
bourhood. No roads were at that time formed in
this region of singular beauty. Narrow valleys, thinly
inhabited, and surrounded by forests and wilds, and
guarded by rocks, passes, and other features of na-
tural strength, afforded to Rob Roy all those advan-
tages which he, who knew every defence which Nature
gave to marauders in those retired haunts, could well
appreciate.
The habits of the Highlanders were also, at this
time, essentially warlike. " The use of arms," to
* Macleay, p. 188.
176 ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL.
borrow a description from an anonymous writer,
" formed their common occupation, and the affairs of
war their ordinary pursuit. They appeared on all
public occasions, at market, and even at church, with
their broadswords and their dirks ; and, more recently,
when the use of fire-arms became general, they seldom
travelled without a musket and pistol." The clan
Macgregor possessed these military tastes in an in-
ordinate degree; and the wars of the foregoing cen-
tury had accustomed them to a degree of union and
discipline not, at that period, common among the
Highlanders, who were considered, in those respects,
as superior to their Lowland brethren.* The vicinity
of the rich districts of the Lowlands gave a rich stim-
ulus to the appetite for plunder natural to a martial
and impoverished people. Above all, their energies
were inspired by an undying sense of ancient and
present injuries, and the remembrance of their suffer-
ings was never . erased from their minds. At this
time, the most disturbed districts in Scotland were
those nearest to the Lowlands ; the bitterness of po-
litical feelings was added to the sense of injustice,
and the loss of lands. Eob Roy knew well how to
avail himself of this additional incentive to violence;
he avowed his determination to molest all who were
not of Jacobite principles; and he put that resolution
into active practice.
The character of the individual who exercised so
singular a control over his followers, and over the dis-
* Trials of the Macgregors, xxiv.
ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL. 177
trict in which he lived, had changed since his early,
dreamy days, or since the period of his honest exer-
tions as a drover. Rob Roy had become in repute
with Robin Hood of the Lowlands. His personal ap-
pearance added greatly to the impression of his singu-
lar qualities. The author of " the Highland Rogue"
describes him as a man of prodigious strength, and of
such uncommon stature as to approach almost to a
gigantic size. He wore a beard above a foot long,
and his face as well as his body was covered with dark
red hair, from which his nick-name originated. The
description given by Sir Walter Scott does not en-
tirely correspond with this portraiture. " His sta-
ture," says that writer, " was not of the tallest, but his
person was uncommonly strong and compact." The
great peculiarity of his frame was the great length of
his arms, owing to which he could, without stooping,
tie the garters of his Highland hose, which are placed
two inches below the knee. . His countenance was
sternly expressive in the hour of peril ; but, at calmer
moments, it wore that frank and kindly aspect which
wins upon the affections of our species. His frame
was so muscular, that his knee was described as re-
sembling that of a Highland bull, evincing strength
similar to that animal. His exercise of the broad-
sword was, even in those days, superlative; and his
intimate knowledge of the wild country over which he
may be said to have ruled, gave him as great an ad-
vantage as his personal prowess. To these qualifica-
tions may be added another, perhaps more important
VOL. II. N
178 ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL.
still, that quick perception of character, and that
penetration into human motives, without which no
mind can obtain a mastery over another.
To these characteristics were added a fearless and
generous spirit, a hatred of oppression, and compas-
sion for the oppressed. Although descended from the
dark murderer of the young students, Rob Eoy had
none of the ferocity of his race in his composition.
He was never the cause of unnecessary bloodshed,
nor the contriver of any act of cruel revenge.
" Like Robin Hood," says Scott, " he was a kind
and gentle robber, and while he took from the rich,
he was liberal to the poor. This might in part be
policy, but the universal tradition of the country
speaks it to have arisen from a better motive. All
whom I have conversed with, and I have in my
youth seen some who knew Rob Roy personally,
gave him the character of a benevolent, humane man,
in his way."
That " way" was certainly not followed out on
the most approved principles of morality, and he is
well described as resembling in his code of morals
an " Arab chief." But if ever man may be ex-
cused for a predatory course of life, the chieftain,
as he was now called, of the Macgregors may be
pardoned for actions which, in those who had suf-
fered less from wrong and oppression, would be
deemed unpardonable.
The revival of that latent affection for the Stuarts
which ever existed in the Highlands, greatly favoured
ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL. 179
the success of Rob Roy in his unsettled and exciting
career. Many of the chieftains were now arraying
their people to follow them to the field upon a sum-
mons from their rightful Prince; and even the Duke
of Argyle, who had at first attached himself to the
Prince of Orange, was wavering in his resolutions,
never having been restored to his property and juris-
diction since the attainder and death of his father.
Under these circumstances the assistance of Eob Roy
became of infinite importance to Argyle. The most
deadly feuds raged between him and Montrose, who,
upon hearing that Roy was on friendly terms with
Argyle, had sent to offer to the freebooter not only
that he would withdraw his claims on his estate,
but also that he would give him a sum of money if
he would go to Edinburgh and give information
against Argyle for treasonable practices. But this
base overture was indignantly rejected by Rob Roy,
who deigned not even to reply to the letter, but con-
tented himself with forwarding it to Argyle. Hence
the bitter enmity of Montrose towards the Macgregors,
during the whole course of his future life.*
From this time Rob Roy kept no measures with his
enemies, and his incursions were so frequent and so
dreaded, that in 1713 a garrison was established at
Inversnaid to check the irruptions of his party. But
Rob Roy was too subtle and too powerful for his ene-
mies. He bribed an old woman of his clan, who lived
within the garrison, to distribute whiskey to the sol-
* Macleay r p. 181.
180 ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL.
diers. Whilst they were in a state of intoxication,
he set fire to the fort. He was suspected of this out-
rage, but still it passed with impunity, for no one
dared to attack him; the affair was passed over in
silence, and the Government re-established the fort of
Inversnaid.
Numbers of the desperate and vagrant part of his
clansmen now crowded around Rob Roy at Craig Roy-
ston, and swore obedience to him as their chieftain.
The country was kept in continual awe by these ma-
rauders, who broke into houses and carried off the in-
mates to Craig Royston, there to remain until heavy
ransoms were paid. Their chieftain, meantime,
laughed at justice, and defied even the great Mon-
trose. He had spies in every direction, who brought
him intelligence of all that was going on. No person
could travel near the abode of this mountain bandit
without risk of being captured and carried to Craig
Royston. In many instances the treatment of the
prisoners is said to have been harsh; in some it was
tempered by the relentings of Rob Roy. On one oc-
casion, having seized upon a gentleman whose means
had been reduced by great losses, he not only set him
at liberty, but gave him money to pay his travelling
expenses, and sent him in one of his own boats as far
as he could travel by water.
The incursions of this Scottish Robin Hood were
contrived with the utmost caution and secrecy, and
executed with almost incredible rapidity. No one
knew when he would appear, nor in what direction he
ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL. 181
would turn his dreaded attention. He is even said to
have threatened the Duke of Montrose in his own re-
sidence at Buchanan. His enterprises were, however,
not always contrived for a serious end, but sometimes
partook of the love of a practical joke, which is a
feature in the Scottish character.
" The Highland Rogue" gives the following account
of one of his exploits : *
" Rob Roy's creditors now grew almost past hopes
of recovering their money. They offered a large re-
ward to any that should attempt it successfully; but
not an officer could be found who was willing to run
such a hazard of his life ; till at length a bailiff, who
had no small opinion of his own courage and conduct,
undertook the affair.
" Having provided a good horse and equipt him-
self for the journey, he set out without any attend-
ance, and in a few hours arrived at Craigroiston,
where, meeting with some of Eob Roy's men, he told
them he had business of great importance to deliver
to their master in private. Rob Roy having notice
of it, ordered them to give him admittance. As soon
as he came in, the Captain demanded his business.
' Sir,' (says the other) ' tho' you have had misfor-
tunes in the world, yet knowing you to be in your
nature an honourable gentleman, I made bold to visit
you upon account of a small debt, which I don't doubt-
but you will discharge if it lies in your power.'
4 Honest friend,' (says McGregor) ' I am sorry that
* Sec Trials, &c. p. 76.
182 ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL.
at present I cannot answer your demand; but if your
affairs will permit you to lodge at my house to-night,
I hope by to-morrow I shall be better provided.' The
bailiff complied, and was overjoyed at the success he
had met with. He was entertained with abundance
of civility, and went to bed at a seasonable time.
" Rob Roy then ordered an old suit of clothes to be
stuffed full of straw, not wholly unlike one of the Taf-
fies that the mob dress up and expose upon the 1st of
March, in ridicule of the Welshmen ; only, instead of a
hat with a leek in it, they bound his head with a nap-
kin. The ghastly figure being completely formed,
they hung it upon the arm of a tree directly opposite
to the window where the officer lay : he rising in the
morning and finding his door locked, steps back to
the window and opens the casement, in expectation of
finding some of the servants, when, to his great asto-
nishment, he cast his eye upon the dreary object be-
fore him : he knew not what to make of it ; he began
to curse his enterprise, and wished himself safe in his
own house again. In the midst of his consternation,
he spied one of the servants, and calling to him, de-
sired him to open the door. The fellow seemed sur-
prised at finding it locked, begged his pardon, and
protested it was done by mistake. As soon as the
bailiff got out, ' Prithee friend,' (says he) ' what is
it that hangs upon yonder tree?' 4 sir, 1 (says the
other) c 'tis a bailiff, a cursed rogue that has the im-
pudence to come hither to my master, and dun him
for an old debt; and therefore he ordered him to be
ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL. 183
hanged there for a warning to all his fraternity. I
think the impudent dog deserved it, and in troth, we
have been commended by all his neighbours for so do-
ing.' The catchpole was strangely terrified at this
account, but hoping that the servant did not know
him to be one of the same profession, he walked away
with a seeming carelessness, till he thought himself
out of sight, and then looking round and finding the
way clear, he threw off his coat and ran for his life,
not resting, nor so much as looking behind him, till he
came to a village about three or four miles off; where,
when he had recovered breath, he told the story of his
danger and escape, just as he apprehended it to be.
Eob Koy was so pleased with the success of his frolic,
that the next day he sent home the bailiff's coat and
horse, and withal let his neighbours know that it was
only a contrivance to frighten him away; by which
means the poor rogue became the common subject of
the people's diversion."
This adventure was immediately recounted to the
Governor of Stirling Castle by the messenger, who
hastened to that fortress. A party of soldiers was or-
dered out to seize Rob Roy ; but the chieftain gained
intelligence of their approach, and Rob Roy retreated
to the hills ; whilst the country of the Macgregors was
roused, and put into a state of defence. The soldiers,
meantime, worn out with their search among the hills,
took possession of an empty house and filled it with
heath for beds. The Macgregors, always active and
watchful^ set fire to the house, and drove their ene-
184 ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL.
mies from their post. Thus Eob Koy escaped the
pursuit of justice, the troopers being obliged to return
to Stirling Castle. He was not always so fortunate
as to avoid imminent danger; yet he had a faithful
friend who watched over his safety, and who would
have willingly sacrificed his life for that of Macgregor.
This was the chieftain's lieutenant, Fletcher, or Mac-
analeister, " the Little John of his band," and an ex-
cellent marksman. " It happened," writes Sir W.
Scott, " that Mac Gregor and his party had been sur-
prised and dispersed by a superior force of horse and
foot, and the word was given to ' split and squander.'
Jack shifted for himself; but a bold dragoon attached
himself to pursuit of Rob Roy, and overtaking him,
struck at him with his broadsword. A plate of iron
in his bonnet saved Mac Gregor from being cut down
to the teeth ; but the blow was heavy enough to bear
him to the ground, crying as he fell, ( Macanaleister,
there is naething in her,' (i. e. in the gun:) the
trooper at the same time exclaiming, ' D n ye, your
mother never brought your nightcap;' had his arm
raised for a second blow, when Macanaleister fired, and
the ball pierced the dragoon."
His feats had, however, in most instances, the
character of an unwarrantable oppression, notwith-
standing that they were sometimes accompanied by
traits of a generous and chivalric spirit. Very
few of those who lived in his neighbourhood could
depend upon an hour's security, without paying
the tax of black mail, which he audaciously de-
ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL. 185
manded; and the licentiousness of his reckless troop
was the theme of just reprobation, and the cause
of terror to many innocent and peaceable inha-
bitants in the west of Perth and Stirlingshire. On
one occasion Campbell, of Abernchile, who had found
it convenient to submit to the assessment of the
black mail, neglected the regular payment of the tax.
Rob Eoy, angry at his disobedience, rode up to his
house, knocked at the door, and demanded admit-
tance. A party of friends was at dinner with the
host, and the door was closed against Macgregor.
Rob Roy sounded his horn ; instantly his followers ap-
peared in view. Rob Roy ordered them to drive off
the cattle from the estate : Abernchile was forced to
make an humble apology in order to avert his wrath,
and to pay the exaction.
Another enterprise of Rob Roy's was directed to the
welfare of his ward and relative, Macgregor of Glen-
gyle. The estates of Glengyle were pledged, or, as it
is called in Scotland, " under a contract of wadset."
The creditor was a man of influence and fortune ; but,
like most other Scottish proprietors who were enabled
to take advantage of the wadset rights, he was grasp-
ing and merciless. It was not uncommon, in those
times, for men to whom estates had been pledged, to
take the most unfair advantages of small and needy
proprietors; and from the great superiority which a
superior claimed over his vassals, it became almost
impossible for his inferiors to resist his rapacity, or
to defeat his cunning.
186 ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL.
Some months before the period of redemption had
expired, Rob Roy, aware of the danger to which his
ward was exposed, raised a sum of money in order to
redeem the pledge. It was pretended by the creditor,
that the bond securing the power of redemption was
lost; and since a few months only of the period re-
mained, a plan was formed by him for protracting
the settlement of the affair. Rob Roy, unhappily,
was elsewhere occupied: the period expired; the
young Macgregor ceased, therefore, to be the pro-
prietor of his estate ; he was ordered to leave it, and
to remove his attendants, cattle, and tenants within
eight days. " But law," as Dr. Johnson observes, " is
nothing without power." Before those eight days had
elapsed, Rob Roy had assembled his gillies, had follow-
ed his creditor into Argyleshire, had met him, never-
theless, in Strathfillan, and had carried him prisoner
to an inn. There the unjust creditor was desired to
give up the bond, and told to send for it from his
castle. The affrighted man promised all that could
be required of him; Rob Roy would not trust him,
but sent two of his followers for the bond, which
was brought at the end of two days. When it was
delivered to Macgregor, he refused to pay the sum of
redemption, telling the creditor that the money was
too small a fine for the wrong which he had inflicted ;
and that he might be thankful to escape as well as he
might.
Against all acts of oppression, except those which
he thought proper to commit himself, Rob Roy waged
ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL. 187
war. He was the avenger of the injured, and the
protector of the humble ; and lest his own resources
should prove insufficient for these purposes, a contract
was entered into with several neighbouring proprietors
to combine, for the purposes of defence, and protection
to others.
The Duke of Montrose and his agent, Graham of
Killearn, were still the especial objects of Macgregor's
hatred. When a widow was persecuted by the mer-
ciless factor, and distrained for rent, Eob Koy inter-
cepted the officers who went out against her, and
gave them a severe chastisement ; and a similar ex-
cursion was made in favour of any poor man who was
obliged to pay a sum of money for rent. The col-
lectors of the rent were disarmed, and obliged to
refund what they had received. Upon the same
principle of might against right, Rob Eoy supported
his family and retainers upon the contents of a meal-
store which Montrose kept at a place called Moulin ;
and when any poor family in the neighbourhood were
in want of meat, Eob Eoy went to the store-keeper,
ordered the quantity which he wanted, and directed
the tenants to carry it away. There was no power
either of resistance or complaint. If the parks of
Montrose were cleared of their cattle, the Duke was
obliged to bear the loss in silence. At length, ha-
rassed by constant depredations, Montrose applied to
the Privy Council for redress, and obtained the power
of pursuing and repressing robbers, and of recovering
the goods stolen by them. But, in this act, such was
188 ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL.
the dread of Rob Roy's power, that his name was in-
tentionally omitted in the order in Council.
The retreat into which Rob Roy retired, in times of
danger, was a cave at the base of Ben Lomond, and
on the borders of the Loch. The entrance to this
celebrated recess is extremely difficult from the pre-
cipitous heights which surround it. Mighty frag-
ments of rock, partially overgrown with brushwood
and heather, guard the approach. Here Robert de
Bruce sheltered himself from his enemies; and here
Rob Roy, who had an enthusiastic veneration for that
monarch, believed that he was securing to himself an
appropriate retirement. It was, indeed, inaccessible
to all but those who knew the rugged entrance ; and
here, had it not been for the projects which brought
the Chevalier St. George to England, Rob Roy might
have defied, during his whole lifetime, the vengeance
of Montrose. From this spot Macgregor could almost
command the whole country around Loch Lomond ; a
passionate affection to the spot became the feeling,
not only of his mind, but of that of his wife, who,
upon being compelled to quit the banks of Loch Lo-
mond, gave way to her grief in a strain which obtained
the name of " Rob Roy's Lament."
Of the exquisite beauty, and of the grandeur and
interest of the scene of Rob Roy's seclusion, thousands
can now form an estimate. Dr. Johnson was no enthu-
siast when he thus coldly and briefly adverted to the
characteristics of Loch Lomond. " Had Loch Lomond
been in a happier climate, it would have been the
ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL. 189
boast of wealth and vanity to own one of the little
spots which it incloses, and to have employed upon it
all the arts of embellishment. But as it is, the
islets which court the gazer at a distance, disgust
him at his approach, when he finds instead of soft
lawns and shady thickets, nothing more than unculti-
vated ruggedness." *
From this retreat Rob Roy frequently emerged upon
some mission of destruction, or some errand of redress.
His name was a terror to all who had ever incurred
his wrath; his depredations were soon extended to
the Lowlands. One night a report prevailed in Dum-
barton, that Rob Roy intended to surprise the militia
and to fire the town. It was resolved to anticipate
this attack, and accordingly the militia made their
way to Craig Royston ; and having secured the boats
on Loch Lomond, which belonged to the Macgregors,
they proceeded to seek for Rob Roy. But the chief-
tain had collected his followers, and, retreating into
his cave, he laughed at his enemies, who were forced
to retire without encountering him, the object of
their search.
It is indeed remarkable, that outrages so audacious,
and a power so imperative as that of Rob Roy, should
have defied all control within forty miles of the city
of Glasgow, an important and commercial city.
" Thus," as Sir Walter Scott observes, " a character
like his, blending the wild virtues, the subtle policy,
and unconstrained licence of an American Indian, was
* Tour to the Hebrides.
190 ROB ROY MAOGREGOR CAMPBELL.
flourishing in Scotland during the Augustan age of
Queen Anne and George the First. Addison, it is
probable, and Pope, would have been considerably sur-
prised if they had known that there existed, in the
same island with them, a personage of Eob Roy's
peculiar habits and profession."
To the various other traits in the character of Rob
Roy, there was added that tenacity of purpose, that
obstinate and indefatigable hatred, which were common
to the Highlanders. Their feuds were, it is true,
hereditary, and were implanted in their minds before
the reason could calm the passions. The fierce, im-
placable temper of the Macgregors had been aggra-
vated by long-standing injuries and insults; among
those who might be considered the chief foes of their
race were the heads of the house of Athole. An un-
controlled, vehement spirit of revenge against that
family burned in the breast of Rob Roy Macgregor;
nor did he lose any opportunity of proving the sin-
cerity of his professions of hatred.
Hitherto the wild feats of the marauder had met
with continual success; no reverse had lessened his
control over his followers, nor lowered his individual
pride. But at length his enemy, the Earl of Athole,
had a brief, but signal triumph over the dreaded
chief. The circumstances under which it occurred
are the following :
Emboldened by his continued success, Rob Roy had
descended into the plains, and headed an enterprise
which was attended with the direst consequences : so
ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL. 191
desolating were its effects, that it is known by the
name of the " Herriship of Kilrane." The outrage
was severely taken up by Government, and a re-
ward was offered for the head of the freebooter. It
was even resolved to explore his cave. One day,
when on the banks of Lochearn, attended by two of
his followers, Rob Roy encountered seven men, who
required him to surrender ; but the freebooter darted
from their view, and climbed a neighbouring hill,
whence he shot three of the troopers, and dispersed
the rest. This occurrence drove him, for some time,
from his stronghold on Loch Lomond.
The Earl of Athole had deeply felt the insults of
Rob Roy, and he now took advantage of this tempo-
rary change of fortune to ensnare him. On a former
occasion he had made an ineffectual attempt to over-
come Macgregor. The scene had taken place on
the day of the funeral of Rob Roy's mother. This
was at Balquhidder: when Rob Roy had beheld the
party of the Earl's friends approaching, he grasped
his sword, yet met the. Earl with a smile, and affected
to thank him for the honour of his company. The
Earl replied, that his was not a visit of compliment :
and that Rob Roy must accompany him to Perth.
Remonstrance was vain, and Rob Roy pretended
compliance; but, whilst his friends looked on indig-
nant and amazed, Macgregor drew his sword; the
Earl instantly discharged a pistol at him : it missed
its mark, and, during a momentary pause, the sister
of Rob Roy, and the wife of Glenfalloch, grasped
192 ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL.
Athole by the throat and brought him to the ground.
The clan meantime assembled in numbers, and the
Earl was thankful to be released from the fierce
amazon who held him, and to retire from the country
of the Macgregors.
The Earl of Athole now judged force to be un-
availing, and he resolved to try stratagem. After
wandering, in consequence of the proclamation of
Government, from place to place, Eob Eoy was
greeted by a friendly message from the Earl of
Athole, inviting him to Blair Athole. Macgregor
had not forgotten the day of his mother's funeral.
He acted, on this occasion, with the frankness of
an honest and unsuspecting nature. He doubted
the Earl's sincerity; and he wrote to him, freely
stating that he did so. He was answered by the
most solemn assurances of protection, notwithstanding
that all this time Athole was employed by Government
to bring Rob Roy to justice. Macgregor was, how-
ever, deceived: he rode to Blair, attended only by
one servant, and was received with the utmost pro-
fessions of regard, but was requested to lay aside his
dirk and sword, as the Countess of Athole would not
suffer any armed man to enter the castle. Rob Roy
complied with Lord Athole's entreaty. What was his
surprise when the first remark made by Lady Athole
was her surprise at his appearing unarmed ; Rob
Roy then felt that he was betrayed. Angry words,
followed by a scuffle, ensued : the freebooter was
overpowered; for sixty men, armed, entered before
he could strike a blow.
ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL. 193
Rob Roy was carried towards Edinburgh. He had
proceeded as far as Logierait, under a strong guard,
when he contrived, with his usual address and good
luck, to make his escape. But the dangers which
attended his eventful career were not at an end. He
was surprised as he retired to the farm of Portnellan,
near the head of Loch Katrine, by his old enemy, the
factor of Montrose, with a party of men, who sur-
rounded the house in which Rob Roy slept before
he was out of bed ; yet, the moment that he appear-
ed, sword in hand, they fled in dismay. These, and
many other incidents, rest so much upon tradition,
and are so little supported by authority, that they
belong rather to romance than to history. It is with
the part which Rob Roy took in the actual concerns
of his country that his biographer has most concern.
This brave but reckless individual was exactly the
man to adopt a dangerous cause, and to play a
desperate game. Proscribed, hunted, surrounded by
enemies, burning under the consciousness of wrong,
and unable to retrace his path to a peaceable mode of
life, Rob Roy was a ready partisan of the Jacobite
cause.
In 1713, he had transactions with two emissaries
of the house of Stuart, and was called to account
for that negotiation before the commander-in-chief
in Edinburgh. He escaped punishment; and pre-
pared, in 1715, to lead his clans to the field, headed,
by Macgregor of Glengyle, his nephew.* Upon
* Macleay.
VOL. II.
194 ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL.
Michaelmas day, having made themselves masters
of the boats in Loch Lomond, seventy of the Mac-
gregors possessed themselves of Inch-murrain, a large
island on the lake. About midnight they went
ashore at Bonhill, about three miles above Dumbar-
ton. Meantime the alarm was spread over the coun-
try; bells were rung, and cannon fired from Dum-
barton Castle. The Macgregors, therefore, thought
fit to scamper away to their boats, and to return
to the island. Here they indulged themselves in
their usual marauding practices, " carrying off deer,
slaughtering cows, and other depredations." Soon
afterwards they all hurried away to the Earl of Mar's
encampment at Perth ; here they did not long remain,
but returned to Loch Lomond on the tenth of Oc-
tober.*
They now mustered their forces. Such was the
terror of their name, that both parties appear to have
been afraid of the Macgregors, and to think " it
would be their wisdom to part peaceably with them,
because, if they should make' any resistance, and shed
the blood of so much as one Macgregiour, they
would set no bounds to their fury, but burn and slay
without mercy." This was the opinion held by some;
by others resistance was thought the more discreet
as well as the more honourable part. A body of
* This account of what is called in history the " Loch Lomond Expe-
dition," is taken from the Wodrow MSS. in the Advocate's Library in
Edinburgh. Extracts from these MSS. have been printed by James
Denmstoun, Esq., to whose work I am indebted for this narrative of
Rob Roy's martial career.
ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL. 195
volunteers was brought from Paisley, and it was
resolved, if possible, to retake the boats captured
by the Macgregors, who could now make a descent
wherever they pleased. A singular spectacle was
beheld on the bosom of Loch Lomond : four pinnaces
and seven boats, which had been drawn by the
strength of horses up the river Levin, which, next to
the Spey, is the most rapid stream in Scotland, were
beheld, their sails spread, cleaving the dark waters
which reflected in their mirror a sight of armed men,
who were marching along the side of the loch, in
order to scour the coast. Never had anything been
seen of the kind on Loch Lomond before. " The men
on the shore," writes an eyewitness, " marched with
the greatest ardour and alacrity. The pinnaces on
the water discharging their patararoes, and the men
their small arms, made so very dreadful a noise
thro' the multiply'd rebounding echoes of the vast
mountains on both sides the loch, that perhaps there
never was a more lively resemblance of thunder."
This little fleet was joined in the evening by the
enemy of the Macgregors, Sir Humphrey Colquhoun
of Luss, followed by " fourty or fifty stately fellows,
in their short hose and belted plaids, armed each of
'em with a well-fixed gun on his shoulder." At
Luss a report prevailed that the Macgregors were
reinforced by Macdonald of Glengarry, and had
amounted to fifteen hundred strong : but this proved
to be an idle rumour; their numbers were only four
hundred.
o2
196 ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL.
This falsehood did not dishearten the men of
Paisley. " They knew," says the chronicler of their
feats, " that the Macgregiours and the devil are to
be dealt with after the same way; and that if they
be resisted, they will flee."
On the following morning the party from Paisley
went on their expedition, and arrived at Inversnaid.
Here, in order to " arouse those thieves and rebels
from their dens," they fired a gun through the roof
of a house on the declivity of a mountain; upon
which an old woman or two came crawling out, and
scrambled up the hill; but no other persons ap-
peared. " Whereupon," adds the narrator,"* " the
Paisley men, under the command of Captain Fin-
lason, assisted by Captain Scot, a half-pay officer,
of late a lieutenant of Colonel Kerr's regiment of
dragoons, who is indeed an officer, wise, stout, and
honest; the Dumbarton men, under the command
of David Colquhoun and James Duncanson, of Gar-
shark, magistrates of the burgh, with several of the
other companies, to the number of an hundred men
in all, with the greatest intrepidity leapt on shore,
got up to the top of the mountain, arid drew up
in order, and stood about an hour, their drums beat-
ing all the while: but no enemie appearing, they
thereupon went in quest of the boats which the
rebels had seized; and having casually lighted on
some ropes, anchors, and oars hid among the shrubs,
at length they found the boats drawn up a good
* The Loch Lomond Expedition, p. 9.
ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL. 197
way on the land, which they hurled down to the
loch. Such of them as were not damaged, they car-
ried off with them; and such as were, they sunk
or hewed in pieces. And that same night they re-
turn'd to Luss, and thence next day, without the
loss or hurt of so much as one man, to Dumbarton,
whence they had first set out altogether, bringing
along with them the whole boats they found in
their way on either side the loch, and in creeks
of the isles, and moored them under the cannon of
the castle. And thus in a short time, and with
little expense, the M'Greigours were towed, and a
way pointed how the Government might easily keep
them in awe."
The historian remarks, as a good augury, that
a violent storm had raged for three days before. In
the morning, notwithstanding this much magnified
triumph on the part of his enemies, neither Kob Roy
nor his followers were in the least daunted, but
went about " proclaiming the Pretender," and carry-
ing off plunder. " Yesternight,* about seven,"
writes the same historian, " we had ane accountt
from one of our townsmen, who had been five miles
in the country, in the paroch of Baldernock, that
three or four hundred of the clans, forerunners of the
body coming, had at Drummen, near Dunkeld, pro-
claimed the Pretender; but no accountt to us from
these places, nor from Sterling. Our magistrates
* Loch Lomond Expedition. Wodrow Correspondence, p. 30. Also
Reay's History of the Rebellion, p. 286.
198 ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL.
sent fitt men at eight yesternight for information,
and can hardly return till afternoon, if they have
access to the three garrisons, of which they are I
hear ordered to goe to to-day. I hear by report,
without sufficient authority, that it's the M'Grigors
come with a party, proclaimed the Pretender, tore
the exciseman's book, and went away. H. E."
In a letter from Leslie, dated the twentieth of
January, 1716, it is stated that the country did not
oppose the incursions of Kob Roy, being mostly in
his interest, or indifferent. Emboldened by this pas-
sive conduct, Rob Roy marched to Falkland on the
fourth of January, 1716, and took possession of the
palace for a garrison. He afterwards joined the
Earl of Mar's forces at Perth, yet, whether from
indolence or caution, took but little share in the
signal events of the day. He hovered sometimes in
the Lowlands, uncertain whether to proclaim peace,
or to embark with his Macgregors in the war : some
said he declined fighting under Lord Mar, from the
fear of offending the Duke of Argyle ; at all events
he had the wiliness to make the belligerent powers
each conceive him as of their respective parties.
At the battle of Sherriff Muir, Macgregor had the
address to make both the Jacobites and Hanoverians
conceive, that, had he joined them, the glory of the
day would have been secured.
The inhabitants of Leslie, who had heard, with
dismay, the news of the burning of Auchterarder and
ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL. 199
Blackford, were now affrighed by a rumour that Rob
Roy had a commission to burn Leslie, and all between
that place and Perth. But, whilst the burgesses of
Leslie were daily looking for this dreaded event,
Rob Roy was forced to retreat to Dundee, by the
approach of the King's troops. He left behind him
a character of reckless rapacity, and of a determined
will, notwithstanding some generous and humane ac-
tions. He was, nevertheless, esteemed to be among
the fairest and discreetest of the party to whom he
was attached, notwithstanding his favourite speech,
" that he desired no better breakfast than to see a
Whig's house burning." The people could not, in-
deed, trust any man's assurances after the recent and
cruel devastation at Auchterarder.
When the fortune of the battle was decided, he
was heard to say, in answer to demands that he
should send his forces to the attack, " If they cannot
do it without me, they cannot do it with me," and
he immediately left the field. Such is the popular
account of his conduct on that occasion.
The partizans of Rob Roy have, however, given
a very different version of his conduct. The Duke
of Argyle was the patron and friend of Macgregor ;
and he could neither, therefore, openly adopt a
course which the Duke disapproved, nor would he
altogether retire from a cause to which he was dis-
posed to be favourable. With the true Gaelic cau-
tion Rob Roy waited to see which side prevailed,
and then hastened to avail himself of an opportunity
200 ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL.
of that which had become the darling pursuit of his
existence plunder.
He retired from Sherriff Muir to Falkland, car-
rying terror wherever he passed.
The following letter, descriptive of his progress,
affords a curious picture of the state of that harassed
and wretched country :
" D. B.
" I received yours this evening, but I find you
have been quit mistaken about our condition. You
datt our freedom and libertie from the rebels long
befor its commencement, and for profe take the
folowing accompt of what past heir these last ten
days. Upon the fourth instant Rob Roey, with
one hundred and fifty men, com to Falkland, and
took possession of the place for a garrison, from
which they came through the countrey side and
robs and plunder, taking cloaths and victuals, and
every thing that maks for them, nor to oposs them
till this day eight days. The sixth instant there
corns thirty-two Highland men (I had almost said
devils) to Leslie; we saw them at Formand Hills
and resolved to resist, and so man, wife, and child
drew out.
" The men went to the east end of the town,
and met them in the green with drawn swords
in the hands, and we askt them what they were
for; they said they wanted cloaths and money; we
answeared they should get neither of them heir, at
ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL. 201
which they stormed and swore terribly, and we told
them if they were come for mischeif they should
have thee fill of it; at which ther were some blows.
But they seeing us so bold, they began to feear that
we should fall upon them, and so they askt liber tie
to march through the town, which we granted, but
withall told them if they went upon the least house
in the town, ther should never a man go back to
Fackland to tell the news, though we should die on
the spot, and so they marsht through the town and
got not so much as the rise of a cap. And they
were so afraid that they did not return, but went
down over the Hank Hill, and east to the minister's
land; and their they faced about and fired twenty
shots in upon the peple that were looking at them,
but, glory to God, without doing the least hurt. And
so they went off to the Formand Hils, and plundred
all the could carry or drive, and threatned dread-
fully they should be avenged on Leslie and burn it."
The pursuit of plunder was considered by Rob Eoy
as a far more venial offence than if he had fought
against Lord Mar, or offended Argyle, with whom he
continued on such convenient terms, that he did not
leave Perth until after the arrival of that General.
He then retired with the spoils he had acquired, and
continued for some years in the practice of the same
marauding incursions which had already proved so
troublesome and distressing to his neighbours.
In the subsequent indemnity, or free pardon, the
tribe of Macgregor was specially excepted ; and their
202 ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL.
leader, Eobert Campbell, alias Macgregor, commonly
called Robert Roy, was attainted.
The severities which followed the Rebellion of
1715, drove Rob Roy to a remote retreat in the
Highlands, where he lived in a solitary hut, half
covered with copsewood, and seated under the brow of
a barren mountain. Here he resided in poverty, and,
what was worse to his restless spirit, in idleness.
Here he was in frequent dread of pursuit from the
agents of the law; and several anecdotes are told,
with what veracity it is difficult to judge, of his dex-
terity in evading justice. Attainted, disappointed,
aged, and poor, he had one grievous addition to his
sorrows, which it required a cheerful and energetic
mind to sustain, that of a family devoid of prin-
ciple.
Among the five sons of Macgregor, Coll, James,
Robert, Duncan, and Ronald, four were known to
be but too worthy of the name given by the enemies
of the Macgregors to the individuals of that tribe
" devils." Of Coll, the eldest, little is ascer-
tained. Robert, or Robbiq, or the younger, as
the Gaelic word signifies, inherited all the fierce-
ness, without the generosity, of his race. At sixteen
years of age, he deliberately shot at a man of the
name of Maclaren, and wounded him so severely that
he died. His brothers were implicated in this mur-
der. On their trials, they were charged with being
not only murderers, but notorious thieves and re-
ceivers of stolen goods. Robert was proved to have
ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL. 203
boasted of having drawn the first blood of the Mac-
larens ; and the brothers were all accused of having
followed this murder by houghing and killing forty
head of young cattle belonging to a kinsman of the
deceased.
Eobert Eoy, the principal party in the crime,
did not appear before the High Court of Jus-
ticiary, to which he was summoned: he was there-
fore outlawed. The other brothers were tried, and
the prosecution was conducted by the celebrated
Duncan Forbes, of Culloden. The prisoners were
acquitted of being accessory to the murder of Mac-
laren; but the jury were unanimous in thinking
that the charge of being reputed thieves was made
out, and they were ordered to find caution for their
good behaviour.
Eobert Eoy was advised to retire to France : his bro-
ther James remained in Scotland, and took an active
part in the Eebellion of 1745; when, with the assist-
ance of his cousin Glengyle, he surprised the fort
of Inversnaid ; he afterwards led to the battle of
Preston Pans six companies of his clan. His thigh-
bone was broken in that battle ; yet he appeared again
at Culloden, and was subsequently attainted.
The life of James Macgregor was spared only to
present a tissue of guilty schemes, and to end in
infamy and exile. That of Eob Eoy was dyed yet
deeper in crimes, of which a second trial and an igno-
minious death were the dreadful result. He was
hung in the Grass Market in Edinburgh, in the year
204 ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL.
1754. James, his brother, being reduced to the
most humiliating condition, died in France, after ex-
hibiting in his conduct, whilst in Scotland, if possible,
almost a deeper shade of depravity than that dis-
played by his brother.
Their father was, however, released from his exist-
ence before these desperate men had sullied the name
which he transmitted to them by their transgressions.
As he declined in strength, Rob Roy became more
peaceable in disposition; and his nephew, the head of
the clan, renounced the enmity which had subsisted
between the Macgregors and the Duke of Montrose.
The time of this celebrated freebooter's death is un-
certain, but is generally supposed to have occurred
after the year 1738. " When he found himself ap-
proaching his final change," says Sir Walter Scott,
" he expressed some contrition for particular parts of
his life. His wife laughed at these scruples of con-
science, and exhorted him to die like a man, as he
had lived. In reply, he rebuked her for her violent
passions and the counsels she had given him. " You
have put strife," he said, " betwixt me and the best
men of my country, and now you would place enmity
between me and my God."
Although he had been educated in the Protestant
faith, Eob Eoy had become a Catholic long before
his death. " It was a convenient religion," he used
to say, " which for a little money could put asleep
the conscience, and clear the soul from sin." The
time and causes of his conversion are only surmised;
ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL. 205
but when he had resolved on this important step, the
freebooter left his lovely residence in the Highlands,
and repairing to Drummond Castle, in Perthshire,
sought an old Catholic priest, by name Alexander
Drummond. His confessions were stated by himself
to have been received by groans from the aged man
to whom he unburthened his heart, and who fre-
quently crossed himself whilst listening to the recital.
Even after this manifestation of penitence, Rob
Roy returned to his old practices, and accompanying
his nephew to the Northern Highlands, he is stated
to have so greatly enriched himself, that he returned
to the Braes of Balquhidder, and began farming.
He is said in the decline of life to have visited
London, and to have been pointed out to George
the Second by the Duke of Argyle, whilst walking
in the front of St. James's Palace. He still had an
imposing and youthful appearance, and the King is
said to have declared that he had never seen a
handsomer man in the Highland garb.* But this,
and other anecdotes, rest on no better authority than
tradition. His strength, always prodigious, con-
tinued until a very late period ; but at last it was
extinguished even before the spirit which had stim-
ulated it had died away. He is acknowledged, even
by his partial biographer, to have declined one duel,
and to have been worsted in another; but impaired
eyesight, and decayed faculties are pleaded in defence
of a weakness which cast dishonour on Macgregor.
* Macleay, p. 279.
206 ROB ROY MACGREGOR CAMPBELL.
His deathbed was in character with his life : when
confined to bed, a person with whom he was at en-
mity proposed to visit him. " Raise me up," said
Rob Roy to his attendants, " dress me in my best
clothes, tie on my arms, place me in my chair. It
shall never be said that Rob Roy Macgregor was
seen defenceless and unarmed by an enemy." His
wishes were executed ; and he received his guest with
haughty courtesy. When he had departed, the dy-
ing chief exclaimed : "It is all over now put me to
bed call in the piper ; let him play ' Ha til mi
tulidJi* (we return no more) as long as I breathe."
He was obeyed, he died, it is said, before the dirge
was finished. His tempestuous life was closed at the
farm of Inverlochlarigbeg, (the scene, afterwards, of
his son's frightful crimes,) in the Braes of Balquhid-
der. He died in 1735, and his remains repose in
the parish churchyard, beneath a stone upon which
some admirer of this extraordinary man has carved
a sword. His funeral is said to have been attended
by all ranks of people, and a deep regret was ex-
pressed for one whose character had much to recom-
mend it to the regard of Highlanders.
He left behind him the memory of a character by
nature singularly noble, humane, and honourable,
but corrupted by the indulgence of predatory habits.
That he had ever very deep religious impressions is
doubted ; and his conversion to popery has been
conjectured to have succeeded a wavering and un-
settled faith. When dying, he showed that he enter-
ROB ROY MACREGOR CAMPBELL. 207
tained a sense of the practical part of Christianity,
very consistent with his Highland notions. He was
exhorted by the clergyman who attended him to for-
give his enemies; and that clause in the Lord's
prayer which enjoins such a state of mind was
quoted. Rob Eoy replied: "Ay, now ye hae gien
me baith law and gospel for it. It 's a hard law, but
I ken it 's gospel." " Rob," he said, turning to his
son, " my sword and dirk lie there : never draw them
without reason,* nor put them up without honour. I
forgive my enemies ; but see you to them, or may"
the words died away, and he expired.
Reason may disapprove of such a character as that
of Rob Roy, but the imagination and the feelings are
carried away by so much generosity, such dauntless
exertion in behalf of the friendless, as were displayed
by the outlawed and attainted freebooter. He was
true to his word, faithful to his friends, and honour-
able in the fulfilment of his pecuniary obligations.
How many are there, who abide in the sunshine of
the world's good opinion, who have little claim to
similar virtues !
208
SIMON FRASER, LORD LOVAT.
THE memoirs of Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, have
been written in various forms, and with a great diver-
sity of opinions. Some have composed*accounts of this
singular, depraved, and unfortunate man, with the
evident determination to give to every action the
darkest possible tinge ; others have waived all discus-
sion on his demerits by insisting largely upon the fame
and antiquity of his family. He has himself be-
queathed to posterity an apology for his life, and from
his word we are bound to take so much, but only so
much, as may accord with the statements of others in
mitigation of the heinous facts which blast his memory
with eternal opprobrium.
As far as the researches into the remote antiquity
of Scotland may be relied upon, it appears that
the name of Fraser was amongst the first of those
which Scotland derived from Normandy, and the origin
of this name has been referred to the remote age of
Charles the Simple. A nobleman of Bourbon such is
the fable, presented that monarch with a dish of
strawberries. The loyal subject, who bore the name of
Julius De Berry, was knighted on the spot, and the
sirname of Fraize was given him in lieu of that which
(0)!F MIS
LORD LOVAT. 209
he had borne. Hence the ancient armorial bearing of
the Frasers, a field azure, seme with strawberries : and
hence the widely-spreading connection of the Erasers
with the noble family of Frezeau, or Frezel, in France,
a race connected with many of the royal families in
Europe. For a considerable period after the elevation
of Julius de Berry, the name was written Frezeau, or
Frisil.
The period at which the Frasers left Normandy for
Scotland has been assigned to the. days of Malcolm
Caumore, where John, the eldest of three brothers of
the house, founded the fortunes of the Frasers of Oliver
Castle in Tweedale, by marrying Eupheme Sloan, heiress
of Tweedale: whilst another brother settled beyond
the Forth, and became possessed of the lands of Inver-
keithing. Eventually those members of this Norman
race who had at first settled in Tweedale, branched off
to Aberdeenshire, and to Inverness-shire;* and it was
in this latter county, at Beaufort, a property which had
been long held by his family, that the famous Lord
Lovat was born.
Such is the account generally received. According
to others, the family of Fraser is of Scandinavian
origin. When the Scandinavians invaded the eastern
coast of Britain, and the northern coast of France,
one branch of the family of Frizell, or Fryzell, settled
in Scotland ; another in Normandy, where the name
has retained its original pronunciation^
* Anderson's Historical Account of the Family of Frisel or Fraser, p. 5.
t One of Lord Lovat's family it is not easy to ascertain which emi-
VOL. II. P
210 SIMON FRASER,
The castle of Beaufort, anciently a royal fortress,
had been bestowed upon the Erasers, in the year 1367.
It is situated in the beautiful neighbourhood of Inver-
ness, in the district of the Aird : it was besieged by
the army of Edward the First during the invasion of
Scotland by the usual method of throwing stones from
catapultse, at a distance of seven hundred yards. A
subsidiary fortress, Lovat, heretofore inhabited by one
of the constables of the Crown, whom the lawlessness
of the wild inhabitants and the turbulence of their
chieftains had rendered it necessary to establish in the
west of Scotland, also fell into the possession of the
Erasers.
The present seat of the family of Lovat, still called
Beaufort, is built on a part of the ground originally oc-
cupied by a fortress. It lies on a beautiful eminence
near the Beauly, and is surrounded by extensive
plantations.
The race, thus engrafted upon a Scottish stock, con-
tinued to acquire from time to time fresh honours. It
was distinguished by bravery and fidelity. When Ed-
ward the First determined to subdue Scotland, he found
grated after the Rebellion of 1745 into Ireland, and settled in that coun-
try, where he possessed considerable landed property, which is still
enjoyed by one of his descendants. There is an epitaph on the family
vault of this branch of the Frizells or Frazers, in the churchyard of Old
Ross, in the County of Wexford, bearing this inscription : ft The burial
place of Charles Frizell, son of Charles Fraser Frizell of Ross, and
formerly of Beaufort, North Britain." For this information I am in-
debted to the Rev. John Frizell, of Great Normanton, Derbyshire, and
one of this Irish branch of the family, of which his brother is the lineal
representative.
LORD LOVAT. 211
three Powers refuse to acknowledge his pretensions.
These were, Sir William Wallace, Sir Simon Fraser,
commonly called the Patriot, and the garrison of Stir-
ling. When Bruce, with an inconsiderable force fought
the English army at Methven, near Perth, and was
thrice dismounted, Sir Simon Fraser thrice replaced
him on his saddle ; he was himself taken prisoner and
ordered to be executed. And then might be wit-
nessed one of those romantic instances of Highland
devotion, which appear almost incredible to the calmer
notions of a modern era. A rumour went abroad that
the stay of the country, the gallant Fraser, was to
suffer for his fidelity to his country's interests. Her-
bert de Norham, one of his followers, and Thomas de
Boys, his armour-bearer, swore, that if the report were
true, they would not survive their master. They died
voluntarily on the day of his execution.
In 1431, the Frasers were ennobled ; the head
of the house was created a Lord of Parliament by
James the First, and the title was preserved in regular
succession, until, by the death of Hugh, the eleventh
Lord Lovat, it reverted, together with all the family
estates, now of considerable value and extent, to
Thomas Fraser, of Beaufort, great uncle of the last no-
bleman. This destination of the property and honours
was settled by a deed, executed by Hugh, Lord Lovat,
in order to preserve the male succession in the family.
It was the cause of endless heart-burnings and feuds.
Hugh had married the Lady Emelia Murray, daughter
of John, Marquis of Athole, and had daughters by that
p 2
212 SIMON FRASER,
marriage. He had, in the first instance, settled upon
the eldest of them the succession, on condition of her
marrying a gentleman of the name of Fraser. But this
arrangement agreed ill with the Highland pride; and,
upon a plea of his having been prevailed on to give this
bond, contrary to the old rights and investments of the
family, he being of an easy temper, having been imposed
on to grant this bond, he set it aside by a subsequent
will in favour of his great uncle, dated March 26th,
1696.*
The families of Murray and Fraser were, at the
time that the title of Lovat descended upon Thomas
Fraser, united in what outwardly appeared to be an al-
liance of friendship. Their politics, indeed, at times
diifered. The late Lord Lovat had persisted in his ad-
herence to James the Second of England after his ab-
dication, and had marshalled his own troops under the
banners of the brave Dundee. The Marquis of Athole,
then Lord Tullibardine, on the other hand, had adopted
the principles of the Revolution, and had received a
commission of Colonel from William the Third, to raise
a regiment of infantry for the reigning monarch.f
Thus were the seeds of estrangement between these
families, so nearly united in blood, sown ; and they were
aggravated by private and jarring interests, and by
manoeuvres and intrigues, of which Lord Lovat, who
has left a recital of them, was, from his own innate
* Anderson's Historical Account of the Family of Fraser.
f Memoirs of the Life of Lord Lovat, written by himself in the French
Language, p. 7.
LORD LOVAT. 213
taste for cabals, and aptitude to dissimulation, cal-
culated to be an incomparable judge.
Of the character of Thomas of Beaufort, the father
of Simon, little idea can be formed, except that he
seems to have been chiefly guided by the subtle spirit
of his son Simon. The loss of an elder son, Alexander,
after whose death Simon was considered as the acknow-
ledged heir of the Frasers, may have increased the in-
fluence which a young, ardent temper naturally exer-
cises over a parent advanced in years. Of his father,
Simon, in his various memoirs and letters, always
speaks with respect ; and he refers with pride and
pleasure to his mother's lineage.
" His mother," he remarks, writing in the third per-
son, " was Dame Sybilla Macleod, daughter of the chief
of the clan of the Macleods, so famous for its inviolable
loyalty to its princes."*
During his life-time his great nephew, Thomas
Fraser of Beaufort, had borne the title of Laird of Beau-
fort. " He now took possession," says his biographer,
" without opposition, of the honours and titles which
had descended to him, and enjoyed them until his
death." According to other authorities, however,
Thomas Fraser never assumed the rank of a nobleman,
but retired to the Isle of Sky, where he died in 1699,
three years after his accession to the disputed honours
and estates.
The family of Thomas of Beaufort was numerous.
Of fourteen children, six died in infancy ; of the eight
* Memoirs of the Life of Lord Lovat, p. 7.
214 SIMON FRASER,
who survived, Simon Fraser only mentions two, his
elder brother, Alexander, and his younger, John.
Alexander, who died in 1692, was of a violent and
daring temper. A determined adherent of James the
Second, he joined Viscount Dundee in 1689, when the
standard was raised in favour of the abdicated mon-
arch. During a funeral which had assembled at
Beauly, near Inverness, Alexander received some af-
front, which, in a fit of passion, he avenged. He killed
his antagonist, and instantly fled to Wales, in order to
escape the effects of his crime. He died in Wales,
without issue. John became a brigadier in the Dutch
service, and was known by the name of Le Chevalier
Fraser. He died in 1716, " when/' says his brother,
Lord Lovat, in his Memoirs, " I lost my only brother,
a fine young fellow." *
Simon Fraser, afterwards Lord Lovat, was born at
Inverness, according to some accounts in 1668, to
others in 1670 : he fixes the date himself at 1676.
He was educated at the University of Aberdeen, where
he distinguished himself, and took the degree of Master
of Arts. During his boyhood he shewed his hereditary
affection to the Stuarts, an affection which was pro-
* In speaking of the other members of the family, Mr. Anderson
remarks : " The parish registers of Kiltarlity, Kirkill, and Kilmorack,
were at the same time examined with the view of tracing the other
children of Thomas of Beaufort, but the communications of the various
clergymen led to the knowledge that no memorials of them exist. The
remote branches called to the succession in General Eraser's entail
proves, to a certainty, that these children died unmarried." Anderson's
Historical Account of the Family of Fraser. It appears, however,
from a previous note, that a branch of the family still exists in Ire-
land.
LORD LOVAT. 215
bably sincere at that early age : and he was even impri-
soned for his open avowal of that cause, at the time
when his elder brother repaired to the standard of
Dundee. Deserting the study of the civil law, to
which he had been originally destined, Simon Fraser
entered a company in the regiment of Lord Tullibar-
dine, his relation; nevertheless, he twice attempted to
benefit the Jacobite cause, once, by joining the insur-
rection promoted by General Buchan, and a second
time by forming a plan, which was rendered abortive
by the famous victory at La Hogue, for surprising the
Castle of Edinburgh, and proclaiming King James in
that capital.
This plot escaped detection ; and the young soldier
pursued his military duties, until the death of Hugh
Lord Lovat drew him from the routine of his daily
life into intrigues which better suited his restless and
dauntless character.
Although his father, it is clearly understood, never
bore the title of Lord Lovat, Simon, immediately
upon the death of Lord Hugh, took upon himself the
dignity and the offices of Master of Lovat. He seems,
indeed, to have assumed all the importance, and to have
exercised all the authority, which properly belonged
to Lord Lovat. He was at this time nearly thirty
years of age, and he had passed his life, not in mere
amusement, but in acquiring a knowledge of the world
in prosecuting his own interests. It is true, his leisure
hours might have been more innocently bestowed even
in the most desultory pursuits, than in the debasing
216 SIMON FRASER,
schemes and scandalous society in which his existence
was passed : it is true, that in studying his own in-
terests, he forgot his true interest, and failed lament-
ably; still, he had not been idle in his vocation.
He is said, on tradition, to have been one of the
most frightful men ever seen ; and the portrait which
Hogarth took of him, corroborates that report. He in-
herited the courage natural to his family, and his
character, in that single respect, shone out at the last
with a radiancy that one almost regrets, since it
seemed so inconsistent that a career of the blackest
vice and perfidy should close with something little
less than dignity of virtue. He seems to have been
endowed with a capacity worthy of a better employ-
ment than waiting upon a noble and wealthy relative,
or inflaming discords between Highland clans. If
we may adduce the Latin quotations which Lovat
parades in his Memoirs, and which he uttered during
his last hours, we must allow him to have cultivated
the classics. His letters are skilful, even masterly,
cajoling, yet characteristic. It is affirmed that in
spite of a physiognomy vulgar in feature, and coarse
and malignant in expression, he could, like Richard of
Gloucester, obliterate the impression produced by his
countenance, and charm those whom it was his in-
terest to please. His effrontery was unconquerable:
whilst conscious of the most venal motives, and even
after he had displayed to the world a shameless ter-
giversation, he had the assurance always to claim for
himself the merit of patriotism. " For my part/' he
LORD LOVAT. 217
said on one occasion, in conversation with his friends,
" I die a martyr to my country."*
In after life, Lovat is described by a contemporary
writer, " to have had a fine comely head to grace
Temple Bar." He was a man of lofty stature, and
large proportion; and in the later portion of his life,
he grew so corpulent, that " I imagined," says the same
writer, " the doors of the Tower must be altered to get
him in."f
" Lord Lovat," says another writer, " makes an
odd figure, being generally more loaded with clothes
than a Dutchman : he is tall, walks very upright,
considering his great age, and is tolerably well
shaped ; he has a large mouth and short nose, with
eyes very much contracted and down-looking ; a
very small forehead, covered with a large periwig,
this gives him a grim aspect, but on addressing
any one, he puts on a smiling countenance : he is
near-sighted, and affects to be much more so than he
really is."
"His natural abilities," remarks the editor of the Cul-
loden Papers, " were excellent, and his address, accom-
plishments, and learning far above the usual lot of his
countrymen, even of equal rank. With the civilized,
he was the modern perfect fine gentleman ; and in the
North, among his people, the feudal baron of the tenth
century."J
* See State Trials. Lovat.
+ Letter from Fort Augustus in Gentleman's Magazine for 1746.
t Introduction to Culloden Papers, p. 36. Gentleman's Magazine,
vol. xvi. p. 339.
218 SIMON FRASER,
It seems absurd to talk of the religious principles of
a man who violated every principle which religion in-
culcates ; yet the mind is naturally curious to know
whether any bonds of faith, or suggestion of conscience
ever checked, even for an instant, the career of this
base, unprincipled man. After much deception, much
shuffling, and perhaps much self-delusion, Lord Lovat
was, by his own declaration, a Roman Catholic : his
sincerity, even in this avowal, has been questioned. In
politics, he was in heart (if he had a heart) a Jacobite ;
and yet, on his trial, he insisted strongly upon his
affection for the reigning family.
Such were the characteristics of Simon Fraser, when,
by the death of Hugh Lord Lovat, his father and him-
self were raised from the subservience of clansmen
to the dignity of chieftains. To these traits may be
added a virtue rare in those days, and, until a long
time afterwards, rare in Highland districts ; he was
temperate : when others lost themselves by excesses, he
preserved the superiority of sobriety; and perhaps his
crafty character, his never-ending designs, his remorse-
less selfishness, were rendered more fatal and potent by
this singular feature in his deportment. There was
another circumstance, less rare in his country, the
advantage of an admirable constitution. It was this,
coupled with his original want of feeling, which sus-
tained him in the imprisonment in the Tower, and en-
abled him to display, at eighty, the elasticity of youth.
Lord Lovat was never known to have had the head-
ache, and to the hour of his death he read without
LORD LOVAT. 219
spectacles. A very short time after the death of Hugh
Lord Lovat elapsed, before those relatives to whom
he had bequeathed his estates were involved in the
deadliest quarrel with the family of Lord Tullibardine.
The family of Lord Tullibardine, at that time called
Lord Murray, furnish one of those numerous instances
which occur in the reign of William the Third, of an
open avowal of Whig principles, joined to a secret in-
clination to favour the Jacobite party. The Marquis
of Athole, the father of Lord Tullibardine, had been a
powerful Royalist in the time of Charles the First ;
but had, nevertheless, promoted the Revolution, and
had hastened, in 1689, to court the favour of the
Prince of Orange, with whom his lady claimed kindred.
Disappointed in his hopes of distinction, the
Marquis returned to his former views upon the
subject of legitimacy; and finally retired into private
life, leaving the pursuit of fortune to his son, Lord
John, afterwards Earl Tullibardine, and Marquis of
Athole. The disgust of the old Marquis towards the
government of William the Third, and the evident
determination which his son soon manifested to in-
gratiate himself with that monarch, had, at the time
when the death of Hugh Lord Lovat took place, com-
pletely alienated the Marquis from his son, and pro-
duced an entire separation of their interests.*
In his zeal for the King's service, Lord Tullibardine
had endeavoured to raise a regiment of infantry ; and
it happened, that at this time Simon Fraser, as he
* See Lord Lovat's Memoirs, p. 7. Also Anderson and Woods.
220 SIMON FRASER,
expresses it, " by a most extraordinary stroke of
Providence, held a commission in that regiment." This
commission had been procured for him by his cousin,
Lord Lovat, who looked upon it as the best means of
" bringing him out in the world," as he expressed him-
self. The mode in which Simon was induced by Lord
Murray to accept of this commission, and the manner
in which he was, according to his own statement, in-
duced to support a scheme which was adverse to the
interests of King James, is narrated in his own Me-
moirs. If we may believe his account, he opposed the
formation of this regiment by every exertion in his
power : he aided the Stewarts and Robinsons of Athole,
devoted Jacobites, and determined opposers of Lord
Murray, whose claims on them as their chieftain they
refused to admit ; and when Lord Murray, on being
appointed one of the Secretaries of State, resolved to
give up the colonelcy of the troop, he tried every
means in his power to dissuade his cousin, Hugh Lord
Lovat, to whom it was offered, from accepting the
honour which it was inconsistent with his principles
to bear. This conduct, according to the hero of the
tale, was highly applauded by the old Marquis of
Athole, who even engaged his young relative, Simon,
to pass the winter in the city of Perth with the
younger son of the Marquis, Lord Mungo Murray,
in order that they might there prosecute together the
study of mathematics.
Simon accepted the invitation ; and whilst he was
at Perth, he was, according to his own statement, ca-
LORD LOVAT. 221
joled by Lord Murray into accepting the commission,
which " he held by a stroke of Providence ;" and which
was represented by Lord Murray, as Simon affirms,
to be actually a regiment intended for the service of
King James, who, it was expected, would make a
descent into Scotland in the following summer. And
it was observed that since the Laird of Beaufort was so
zealous in his service, he could not do his Majesty a
greater benefit than in accepting this commission.
Influenced by these declarations, Simon had not
only accepted the commission, but had used his in-
fluence to make up a complete company from his own
clan : nevertheless, the command of the company was
long delayed. His pride as a Highlander and a soldier
was aggrieved by being obliged to sit down content,
for some time, as a lieutenant of grenadiers ; and, at
last, the company was only given upon the payment
of a sum of money to the captain, who made room for
the Laird of Beaufort. Nor was this all ; for upon
the Lord Murray being made one of the Secretaries
of State, he insisted upon the regiment taking oath of
abjuration, which had never before been tendered to
the Scottish army.*
Such had been the state of affairs when Hugh Lord
Lovat was taken ill, and died at Perth. The manner
in which Simon Fraser represents this event, is far
more characteristic of his own malignant temper, than
derogating to the family upon whom he wreaks all
the luxury of vengeance that words could give. Simon,
* Lord Lovat's Memoirs, p. 18.
222 SIMON FRASER,
it appears, had persuaded Lord Lovat to go to Dun-
keld, to meet his wife, the daughter of the Marquis
of Athole, in order to conduct her to Lovat. Lord
Lovat, disgusted by the treachery of the Earl of Tulli-
bardine in respect to the regiment, had refused to
have anything more to do with " this savage family of
Athole," as he called them, " who would certainly kill
him."* According to an account more to be relied
on than that of the scheming and perfidious Simon,
the aversion which Lord Lovat imbibed during his
latter days to his wife's kindred, was implanted in his
mind by Simon Fraser, in order to gain his weak-
minded relative over to that plot which he had formed
in order to secure the estates of Lovat to his own
branch of the house.f This, however, is the account
given by Fraser of his kinsman's last illness :
" In reality he had been only two days at Dunkeld,
when he fell sick, and the Atholes, not willing to be
troubled with the care of an invalid, or for some other
reasons, sent him to an inn in the city of Perth, hard
by the house of Dr. James Murray, a physician, the
relation or creature of the Marquis of Athole, upon
whom the care of Lord Lovat's person was devolved.
" The moment the Laird of Beaufort heard the news
that Lord Lovat had been conducted, very ill, to the
town of Perth, he set out to his assistance. But be-
fore his arrival, in consequence of the violent reme-
dies that had been administered to him, he lost the
use of his reason, and lay in his bed in a manner in-
* Lord Lovat's Memoirs, p. 27. "t" Chambers's Biography.
LORD LOVAT. 223
capable of motion, abandoned by his wife and the
whole family of Athole, who waited for his dissolution
in great tranquillity, at the house of Dr. Murray, their
relation."
Lord Lovat, however, recollected his cousin, and
embracing him said, " Did not I tell you, my dear
Simon, that these devils would certainly kill me I See
in what a condition I am!" Simon could not refrain
from tears at this melancholy spectacle. He threw
himself on the bed beside Lord Lovat, and did not
quit him till he died the next morning in his arms.
Meanwhile, not an individual of the Athole family
entered his apartment after having once seen him in
the desperate condition in which he had been found
by the Laird of Beaufort.
Such was the state of family discord when Lord
Lovat died ; and it was discovered, to the consterna-
tion of the Marquis of Athole and his sons, that he had
made a will in favour of his relation Thomas of Beau-
fort, and to the exclusion of his own daughter.
The right of Thomas of Beaufort was deemed incon-
testable ; and not a man, it was presumed, dreamed of
disputing it. Yet it was soon obvious that the Earl of
Tullibardine, who had now acquired the title of Vice-
roy of Scotland, was determined to support a claim in
behalf of the daughter of Lord Lovat, and to have her
declared heiress to her father. This scheme was cou-
pled with a design of marrying the young lady also to
one of Lord Tullibardine's own sons,* of whom he had
Anderson, p. 120.
224 SIMON FRASER,
five, and, according to Simon Fraser, without fortune
to bestow on any of his children.
The Master of Lovat, Simon Fraser, as he rightfully
was now, communicated this scheme to his father,
and entreated him to resist this claim. Recourse was
had to several of the most able lawyers of the king-
dom, and their opinion unanimously was, that Lord
Tullibardine had no more right to make his " niece
heiress of Lovat than to put her in possession of the
throne of Scotland : that the right of Thomas of Beau-
fort to those honours and estates was incontrovertible,
and that the King himself would not deprive him
of them, except for high treason. It appears that
Lord Tullibardine was satisfied of the justice of the
opinion as far as the title was concerned, but he
still considered that the property of the last Lord
Lovat ought to descend to his daughter and heiress.
The point was warmly viewed between the Earl and
the Master of Lovat ; but the conference ended with
no farther satisfaction to either of the gentlemen than
that of having each a full opportunity of reviling the
other : such, at least, is the account given by one of
the parties ; no reasonable person will venture wholly
to vouch for its accuracy, yet the dialogue does not
appear improbable. This firmness and spirit threw
the Lord Commissioner into a violent passion ; he ex-
claimed in a furious tone, " I have always known you
for an obstinate, insolent rascal ; I don't know what
should hinder me from cutting off your ears, or from
throwing you into a dungeon, and bringing you to the
LORD LOVAT. 225
gallows, as jour treasons against the Government so
richly deserve." Simon, having never before been
accustomed to such language, immediately stuck his
hat on his head, and laying his hand upon the hilt of
his sword, was upon the point of drawing it, when he
observed that Lord Tullibardine had no sword: upon
this he addressed him in the following manner.
" I do not know what hinders me, knave and coward
as you are, from running my sword through your body.
You are well known for a poltroon, and if you had one
grain of courage, you would never have chosen your
ground in the midst of your guards, to insult a gentle-
man of a better house, and of a more honourable birth
than your own ; but I shall one day have my revenge.
As for the paltry company that I hold in your regiment,
and which I have bought dearer than ever any company
was bought before, it is the greatest disgrace to which
I was ever subject, to be a moment under your com-
mand; and now, if you please, you may give it to
your footman." *
Such was the beginning of a long course of hostilities
which were thenceforth carried on between the Murrays
and the clan of Fraser, and which was productive of
the deepest crimes on the part of the Master of Lovat. '
That he was fully prepared to enter into any schemes,
however desperate, to ensure the succession of the
estates of Lovat, cannot be doubted. He prosecuted
his designs without remorse or shame. The matter of
surprise must be, that he found partisans and followers
* Lord Lovat's Memoirs, p. 75.
VOL. II. Q
226 SIMON FRASER,
willing to aid him in crime, and that he possessed an
influence over his followers little short, on their part,
of infatuation.
The first suggestion that occurred to the mind of
this bold and reckless man was, perhaps, a natural and
certainly an innocent method of securing tranquillity
to the enjoyment of his inheritance. He resolved to
engage the aflections of the young daughter of the late
Lord Lovat, and, by an union with that lady, to satisfy
himself that no doubt could arise as to his title to the
estates, nor with regard to any children whom he might
have in that marriage ; nor was the hand of the Master
of Lovat, if we put aside the important point of charac-
ter, a proffer to be despised. The estate of Beaufort
had long been in the possession of his father, as an ap-
panage of a younger son ; and had only been lent as a
residence to Hugh Lord Lovat, on account of the ruin-
ous state of the castle of Lovat. Downie Castle,
another important fortress, also accrued to the father
of Simon Lovat ; and the estate of Lovat itself was one
of the finest and best situated in Scotland.* In ad-
dition to these, the family owned the large domain of
Sthratheric, which stretches along the western banks of
the Ness, and comprises almost the whole circumference
of that extensive and beautiful lake. The pretensions of
the Master were, therefore, by no means contemptible ;
and as he was young, although, according to dates, ten
years older than he states himself to be, in his Memoir
of his life, he had every reason to augur success.
* Lord Lovat's Memoirs, p. 75.
LORD LOVAT. 227
For a time, this scheme seemed to prosper. The
young lady, Amelia Fraser, was not averse to receive
the Master of Lovat as her suitor ; and the inter-
mediate party, Fraser, of Tenechiel, who acted as in-
terpreter to the wishes of the Master, actually suc-
ceeded in persuading the young creature to elope with
him, and to fix the very day of her marriage with the
Master, to whom Fraser promised to conduct her. But
either she repented of this clandestine step, or Fraser
of Tenechiel, dreading the power of the Athole family,
drew back ; for he reconducted her back to her mother
at Castle Downie, even after her assurance had been
given that she would marry her cousin.*
The circumstances of this elopement are obscurely
stated by Lord Lovat in his account of the affair; and
he does not refer to the treachery or remorse of his
emissary Fraser of Tenechiel, nor does he dwell upon a
disappointment which must have gratified his mortal
enemies of the house of Athole. Yet it appears, from
the long and early intimacy to which he alludes as
having subsisted between himself and the Dowager
Lady Lovat, that he may have had many opportunities
of gaining the regard of the young daughter of that
lady, an idea which accounts, in some measure, for
her readiness to engage in the scheme of the elope-
ment. At all events, he expresses his rage and contempt,
and makes no secret of his determined revenge on
those who had, as he conceived, frustrated his project.
The young lady was at first placed under the
* Arnot on the State Trials, p. 84.
Q2
228 SIMON FRASER,
protection of her mother at Castle Downie, the chief
residence of the clan Fraser ; but there it was not
thought prudent to allow her to abide, and she was
therefore carried, under an escort, to Dunkeld, the
house of her uncle, the Marquis of Athole. And
here another match was very soon provided for her,
and again her consent was gained, and again the
preliminaries of marriage were arranged for this pas-
sive individual. The nobleman whom her relations
now proposed to her was William, afterwards eleventh
Lord Salton, also a Fraser, whose father was a man of
great wealth and influence, although referred to the
Master of Lovat as the "representative of an uncon-
siderable branch of the Frasers who had settled in the
lowlands of the county of Aberdeen."* This match
was suggested to the Athole family by one Robert
Fraser "an apostate wretch," as the Master of Lovat
calls him, a kinsman, and an advocate ; and he
advised the Marquis of Athole, not only to marry the
young lady to the heir of Lord Salton, but also, by va-
rious schemes and manoeuvres, to get Lord Salton de-
clared head of the clan of Frasers. This plot was soon
divulged ; disappointment, rage, revenge were raised to
the height in the breast of the Master of Lovat. His
pride was as prominent a feature in this bold and
vindictive man, as his duplicity. Throughout life, he
could, it is true, bend for a purpose, as low as his de-
signs required him to bend ; but the fierce exclusive-
ness of a Highland chieftain never died away, but
rankled in his heart to the last.
* Memoirs.
LORD LOVAT. 229
It must be admitted that he had just cause of irrita-
tion against the Murrays, first for disputing the claim
of his father to the Lovat title and estates, a claim in-
disputably just ; nor was their project for constituting
Lord Salton the head of the clan Fraser, either a wise
or an equitable scheme. It was heard with loud indig-
nation in that part of the country where the original
stock of this time-honoured race were, until their
name was stained by the crimes of Simon Fraser,
held in love and reverence. It was heard by the
Master of Lovat perhaps with less expression of his
feelings than by his followers ; but the meditated
affront was avenged, and avenged by a scheme which
none but a demon could have devised. It was avenged ;
but it brought ruin on the head of the avenger.
Perhaps in no other country, at the same period,
could the wrongs of an individual have been visited
upon an aggressor with the same dispatch and ruthless
determination as in the Highlands. Until the year
1748, when the spirit of clanship was broken, never to
be restored, those hereditary monarchies founded on
custom, and allowed by general consent rather than
established by laws,"* existed in their full vigour.
The military ranks of the clans was fixed and con-
tinual during the rare intervals of local quiet, and every
head of a family was captain of his own tribe.f The
spirit of rivalry between the clans kept up a taste for
hostility, and converted rapine into a service of honour.
Revenge was considered as a duty, and superstition
* Stewart's Sketches, p. 21. t Brown's Highlands, vol. i. p. 120.
230 SIMON FRASER,
aided the dictates of a fiery and impetuous spirit. A
people naturally humane, naturally forbearing, had
thus, by the habits of ages immemorial, become re-
morseless plunderers and resolute avengers. When any
affront was offered to a chieftain, the clan was instantly
summoned. They came from their straths and their
secluded valleys, wherein there was little intercourse
with society in general to tame their native pride, or
to weaken the predominant emotion of their hearts,
their pride in their chieftain. They came fearlessly,
trusting, not only in the barriers which Nature had
given them in their rocks and fastnesses, but in the
unanimity of their purpose. Each clan had its stated
place of meeting, and when it was summoned upon any
emergency, the fiery cross, one end burning, the other
wrapt in a piece of linen stained with blood, was sent
among the aroused clansmen, traversing those wild
moors, and penetrating into the secluded glens of those
sublime regions. It was sent, by two messengers,
throughout the country, and passed from hand to hand,
these messengers shouting, as they went, the war-cry of
the clan, which was echoed from rock to rock. And
then arose the cry of the coronach, that wail, appro-
priate to the dead, but uttered also by women, as the
fiery cross roused them from their peaceful occupa-
tions, and hurried from them their sons and their
husbands.
Never was the fiery cross borne throughout the
beautiful country of Invernessshire, never was the wail
of the coronach heard on a more ignoble occasion, than
LORD LOVAT. 231
on the summons of the Master of Lovat, in the Sep-
tember of the year 1698. After some fruitless nego-
tiation, it is true, with Lord Salton, and after availing
himself of the power of his father, as chieftain, to im-
prison Eobert Fraser, and several other disaffected
clansmen whom that person had seduced from their
allegiance, the Master of Lovat prepared for action.
The traitors to his cause had escaped death by flight,
but the clan were otherwise perfectly faithful to their
chieftain. Fear, as well as love, had a part in their
allegiance ; yet it has been conjectured that the he-
reditary devotion of the Highlanders must, originally,
have had its origin in gratitude for services and for
bounty, which it was the interest of every chieftain to
bestow.
The Master of Lovat, or, as he was called by his
people, the chieftain, first assembled his people at their
accustomed place, to the number of sixty and seventy,
and bade them be in readiness when called upon.
He thanked them for their prompt attendance, and
then dismissed them. During the next month, how-
ever, he was met, coming from Inverness, by Lord
Salton and Lord Mungo Murray, who were returning
from Castle Downie. Such was the preparation for the
disgraceful scenes which quickly followed. As soon as
the Master of Lovat and his father were informed of
the flight of their treacherous clansmen, they wrote a
letter to Lord Salton, and conjured him, in the name
of the clan, to remain at home, and not to disturb
their repose nor to interfere with the interests of their
232 SIMON FRASER,
chief ; and they assured him, that though a Fraser, he
should, if he entered their country, pay for that act of
audacity by his head. Such is Lord Lovat's account :
it is not borne out by the statements of others ; yet
since the affair must have been generally discussed
among the clan, it is probable, that he would not have
given this version of it without foundation. Lord
Salton, according to the same statement, at first re-
ceived this letter in good part ; and wrote to Lord
Lovat and to the Master, giving his word that he would
only interfere to make peace ; and that, for this reason,
he would proceed to the seat of the Dowager Lady
Lovat, at Beaufort. 45 " Upon afterwards discovering
that this courtesy was a mere feint, and that this new
claimant to the honours of chief was in close corre-
spondence with the Murrays, who were with him and
the Dowager at Beaufort, the Master of Lovat wrote to
his father, who was at Sthratheric, to meet him at
Lovat, which was only three miles' distance from
Beaufort, whilst he should himself proceed to the same
place by way of Inverness, where he trusted that Lord
Salton would grant him an interview for the purpose
of explaining their mutual differences.!
No sooner had the Master arrived at Inverness, than
he found, as he declares, so much reason to distrust
the assurances of Lord Salton, that he wrote him a
letter, sent, as he says, " with all diligence by a gen-
tleman of his train, to adhere to his word passed to
his father and himself, and to meet him the next day
* Memoirs, p. 51. t Id. p. 53.
LORD LOVAT. 233
at two in the afternoon, three miles from Beaufort,
either like a friend, or with sword and pistol, as he
pleased."*
Such is the account transmitted by Lord Lovat, and
intended to give the air of an " affair of honour" to a
desperate and lawless attack upon Fraser of Salton,
and on those friends who supported his pretensions to
the hand of the heiress of Lovat.
The real facts of the case were, that Fraser of Salton
was to pass through Inverness on his way to Dunkeld,
where the espousals between him and the heiress of
Lovat were to be celebrated. Whether Simon Fra-
ser purposed merely to prevent the accomplishment
of this marriage, or whether he had fully matured
another scheme : whether he was incited by dis-
appointment to rush into unpremeditated deeds of
violence, or whether his design had been fostered in
the recesses of his own dark mind, cannot be fully
ascertained. In some measure his revenge was grati-
fied. He was enabled, by the events which followed,
to delay the marriage of Fraser of Salton, and to
retard the nuptials, which, indeed, never took place.
" This wild enterprise," observes Arnot, in his Collec-
tion of Criminal Trials in Scotland, " was to be accom-
plished by such deeds, that the stern contriver of the
principal action is less shocking than the abject sub-
mission of his accomplices."t
Lord Salton dispatched an answer, saying, that he
would meet the Master of Lovat at the appointed time,
* Memoirs, p. 53. f Arnot, p. 84.
234 SIMON ERASER,
as his " good friend and servant." But the bearer of
that message distrusted the reply, and informed the
Master that he believed it was Fraser of Salton's in-
tention to set out and to pass through Inverness early in
the morning, in order to escape the interview. Mea-
sures were taken accordingly, by the Master of Lovat.
At a very early hour he was seen passing over the
bridge of Inverness, attended by six gentlemen, as he
himself relates, and two servants, completely armed.
This is the Master's statement ; but on his subsequent
trial, it appeared that the fiery cross and the coronach
had been sent throughout all the country ; that a body
of four or five hundred men in arms were in attend-
ance, and that they had met in the house of one of
the clansmen, Fraser of Strichen, where the Master
took their oaths of fidelity, and where they swore
on their dirks to be faithful to him in his enter-
prise/* " The inhabitants of Inverness," says Lord
Lovat, " observing their alert and spirited appearance,
lifted up their hands to heaven, and prayed God to
prosper their enterprise." These simple and deluded
people, doubtless, but partially understood the nature
of that undertaking which they thus called on Heaven
to bless.
The Master of Lovat and his party had not pro-
ceeded more than four or five miles from Inverness,
than they observed a large party of " runners issuing
out of the wood of Bonshrive, which is crossed by the
high road. " It is a custom," adds Lord Lovat, " in
* Arnot, p. 84. Anderson, p. 121.
LORD LOVAT. '235
the north of Scotland, for almost every gentleman to
have a servant in livery, who runs before his horse,
and who is always at his stirrup when he wishes to
mount or to alight ; and however swift any horse may
be, a good runner is always able to match him."
The gentlemen who attended the Master of Lovat,
were soon able to perceive that Lord Salton was one
of the leaders of the party who was quitting the Wood
of Bonshrive, and emerging into the high road ; and
that his Lordship was accompanied by Lord Mungo
Murray, a younger son of the Marquis of Athole, and,
as the Master of Lovat intimates, an early friend of
his own. The account which Lord Lovat's narrative
henceforth presents, of that which ensued, is so totally
at variance with the evidence on his trial, that it must
be disregarded and rejected as unworthy of credit,
as well as the boast with which he concludes it, of
having generously saved the lives of Lord Salton,
and of his own kinsman, Lord Mungo. It appeared
afterwards, that his followers had orders to seize them,
dead or alive.
These two young noblemen were, it seems, almost
instantly overpowered by numbers, notwithstanding
the attendance of the " runners," on whom Lord Lovat
so much insists. Lord Mungo was taken prisoner by
the Master himself. They were then deprived of
their horses, and being mounted on poneys, were con-
ducted to Fanellan, guards surrounding them, with
their muskets loaded, and dirks drawn, to a house
belonging to Lord Lovat, where they were kept in
236 SIMON FRASER,
close confinement, guarded by a hundred clansmen.'
Gibbets were erected under the windows of the
house, to intimidate the prisoners ; and at the end
of a week they were marched off to Castle Downie,
the Master of Lovat going there in warlike array,
with a pair of colours and a body of five hundred
men. From Castle Downie, Lord Salton and Lord
Mungo were led away into the islands and moun-
tains, and were treated with great indignity.
These adversaries being thus disposed of, the Master
of Lovat invested the castle of Downie with an armed
force, and soon took possession of a fortress, tenanted
only by a defenceless woman, the Dowager Lady Lovat.
But that lady was a Murray ; one of a resolute family,
and descended on her mother's side from a Stanley.
She was the grand -daughter of Charlotte de la Tre-
mouille, who defended Latham House against the Par-
liamentary forces in 1644. Notwithstanding that
armed men were placed in the different apartments of
the castle, she was undaunted. Attempts were made
by the Master of Lovat to compel her to sign certain
deeds, securing to him that certainty of the right to
the estates, for which he was ready to plunge in the
deepest of crimes. She was firm she refused to
subscribe her name. Her refusal was the signal, or
the incentive, for the completion of another plot, of
a last resource, a compulsory marriage between the
Master of Lovat and herself.
The awful and almost incredible details of that last
act of infuriated villany, prove Lady Lovat to have
LORD LOVAT. 237
been a woman of strong resolution, and of a deep sen-
sibility. The ceremony of marriage was pronounced
by Robert Monro, Minister of Abertaaffe. The un-
happy Lady Lovat's resistance and prayers were heard
in the very court-yard below, although the sound of
bagpipes were intended to drown her screams. Morn-
ing found the poor wretched being, to make use of
one of the expressions used by an eye-witness, " out
of her judgment ; she spoke none, but gave the de-
ponent a broad stare." For several days reason was
not restored to her, until, greeted by one of her friends
with the epithet " Madam," she answered, " Call me
not Madam, but the most miserable wretch alive."
The scene of this act of diabolical wickedness* is
razed to the ground : Castle Downie was burned by
the royal troops, in the presence of him who had
committed such crimes within its walls, and of three
hundred of his clansmen, shortly after the battle of
Culloden.
It appears from a letter written by Thomas Lovat,
the father of the Master, to the Duke of Argyle, that
he and his son were shortly " impeached for a convo-
cation," and for making prisoners of Lord Salton and
Lord Mungo Murray, for which they were charged be-
fore him, were fined, discharged their fines, and gave
security to keep the peace." f So lightly was that
gross invasion of the liberty that threatened the lives
of others at first treated ! " We have many advertise-
ments," adds Thomas Lovat, " that Athole is coming
* Arnot, p. 89. t Anderson, p. 124.
238 SIMON FRASER,
here in person, with all the armed men he is able to
make, to compel us to duty, and that without delay."
If he come, so we are resolved to defend ourselves ;
the laws of God, of nature, and the laws of all nations,
not only allowing, but obliging all men, vim m repel-
lere. And I should wish from my heart, if it were
consistent with divine and human laws, that the es-
tates of Athole and Lovat were laid as a prize, de-
pending on the result of a fair day betwixt him and
me."* It was, perhaps, an endeavour to avert the
impending ruin and devastation that followed, that the
Master of Lovat gave their liberty to Lord Saltoun
and Lord Mungo Murray, although not until he had
threatened them both with hanging for interfering
with his inheritance, and compelling Lord Saltoun to
promise that he would, on arriving at Inverness, send
a formal obligation for eight thousand pounds, never
more to concern himself with the affairs of the Lovat
estate, and that neither he nor the Marquis of Athole
would ever prosecute either Lord Lovat or his son,
or their clan in general, for the disgrace they had
received in having been made prisoners, for any of
the transactions of this affair. f
But it was evident that, in spite of this concession,
the vengeance of the Marquis of Athole never slept ;
and that he was resolved to wreak it upon the head
of the wretch who had for ever blasted the happiness
of his sister.
The Master of Lovat was shortly aware that it
* Lord Lovat's Manifesto, p. 72. f Ibid.
LORD LOVAT. 239
would no longer be prudent to remain with his victim
in the castle of Downie. His wife, as it was then his
pleasure to call her, remained in a condition of the
deepest despair. She would neither eat nor drink
whilst she was in his power ; and her health appears
to have suffered greatly from distress and fear. In
the dead of night she was summoned to leave Castle
Downie, to be removed to a more remote and a wilder
region, where the unhappy creature might naturally
expect, from the desperate character of her pretended
husband, no mitigation of her sorrows. Since ru-
mours were daily increasing of the approach of Lord
Athole's troops, the clan of Fraser was again, when
Lady Lovat was conveyed from the scene of her
anguish, called forth to assist their leader, and the
wail of the coronach was again heard in that dismal
and portentous night : for portentous it was. This
crime, the first signal offence of Simon Fraser, stamped
his destiny. Its effects followed him through life : it
entailed others : it was the commencement of a cata-
logue of iniquities almost unprecedented in the career
of one man's existence.
Crushed, broken- spirited, afraid of returning to her
kindred, whose high fame she seems to have thought
would be sullied by her misfortunes, Lady Lovat
was conducted by Fraser to the Island of Aigas.
They stole thither on horseback, attended by a single
servant, and arriving at the sea-shore, they there took
a boat, and were carried to the obscure island which
Fraser had chosen for his retreat. Thomas Fraser of
240 SIMON FRASER,
Beufort, the father of Simon, thus writes to the
Duke of Argyle respecting this singular and revolting
union.
" 'We have gained a considerable advantage by my
eldest son's being married to the Dowager of Lovat;
and if it please God they live together some years, our
circumstances will be very good. Our enemies are so
galled at it, that there is nothing malice or cruelty can
invent but they design and practice against us ; so that
we are forced to take to the hills, and keep spies at all
parts; by which, among many other difficulties, the
greatest is this, that my daughter-in-law, being a ten-
der creature, fatigue and fear of bloodshed may put an
end to her, which would make our condition worse
than ever/'*
And now there took place, in the mind of Lady
Lovat, one of those singular revulsions which expe-
rience teaches us to explain rather than induces
us to believe as neither impossible nor uncommon.
Lady Lovat, it is said upon the grave authority of a
reverend biographer, became attached to the bonds
which held her. " Here," says Mr. Arbuthnot, in his
Life of Lord Lovat,f " he continued a month or six
weeks, and by this time the captain had found means
to work himself so effectually into the good graces of
the lady, that, as he reported, ' she doated on him,
and was always unhappy at his absence/ " However
* Anderson, p. 124.
f Life and Adventures of Lord Lovat, by the Rev. Archibald Arbuth-
not, one of the Society for propagating Christian Knowledge, and
Minister of Killarlaty, Presbytery of Inverness. London, 1748.
LORD LOVAT. 241
true or however false this representation may be, the
marriage service was again, as it was said, solemnized,
at the suggestion of the Master of Lovat, and with the
free consent of Ladj Lovat.* On the twenty-sixth of
October, 1697, we find Simon Fraser writing in the
following terms to the Laird of Culloden. The answer
is not given in the Culloden Papers, but it not impro-
bably contained a recommendation to repeat the mar-
riage ceremonials :
" Beaufort, the 26th of Oct., 1797."
" DEAR SIR,
" Thir Lords att Inverness, with the rest of my
implacable enemies, does so confound my wife, that
she is uneasy till she see them. I am afraid that they
are so madd with this disapointment, that they will
propose something to her that is dangerous, her bro-
ther having such power with her ; so that really, till
things be perfectly accommodatt, I do nott desire they
should see her, and I know not how to manage her.
So I hope you will send all the advice you can to your
oblidged humble servant, SIM. FRASER."
" I hope you will excuse me for not going your
lenth, since I have such a hard task at home."
FROM SIMON FRASER TO THE LAIRD OF CULLODEN.
" Nov. 23rd, 1697.
" SIR,
" I pray you receive the inclosed acompt of my
business, and see if your own conscience, in sight of
* Life and Adventures, p. 42.
VOL. II. R
242 SIMON FRASER,
God, doth not convince you that it is literally true. I
hade sent it to you upon Saturday last, but you were
not at home ; however, I sent it that day to the Laird
of Calder, who, I hope, will not sitt down on me, but
transmitt it to my best friends ; and I beseech you, Sir,
for God's sak, that you do the like. I know the Chan-
cellour is a just man, notwithstanding his friendship to
my Lord Tilliberdine. I forgive you for betraying of
me ; but neither you, nor I, nor I hope God himself,
will forgive him that deceived you, and caused you to
do it. I am very hopeful in my dear wife's constancey,
if they do not put her to death. Now I ad no more,
but leaves myself to your discretion; and reste, Sir,
your faithful friend and servant, SIM. FRA.SER."
Lady Lovat lived to hear her husband deny that
he had ever sought her in marriage, and to see him
married to two different wives ; and he scrupled not to
represent the unfortunate Lady Lovat as the last pos-
sible object of his regard as a " widow, old enough to
be his mother, dwarfish in her person, and deformed in
her shape."* This, as far as related to disparity of
years, was untrue ; the Dowager was only four years
older than the Master of Lovat.
Meantime justice had not slumbered ; and one morn-
ing, a charge " against Captain Simon Fraser, of Beau-
fort, and many others, persons mostly of the clan
Fraser, for high treason, in forming unlawful asso-
ciations, collecting an armed force, occupying and
* Manifesto.
LORD LOVAT. 243
fortifying houses and garrisons, &c.," was left by the
herald, pursuant to an old Scottish custom, in a cloven
stick, which was deposited at the river side, opposite
to the Isle of Aigas.* Of this no notice was taken by
Simon, except to renew his addresses to his clan, and
to hasten, as far as he could from his secluded retreat,
a systematic resistance to the Marquis of Athole, and
even to the royal troops, whose approach was expected.
But his fears were aroused. Again he sought to avert
the coming danger by concession ; and he determined,
in the first instance, on restoring Lady Lovat to her
friends.
It is stated by Mr. Arbuthnot, but still on the au-
thority of the Master of Lovat, that Lady Lovat had
now become reluctant to return to her relations. Nor
is it improbable that this statement is true, without
referring that reluctance to any aifection for the wretch
with whom her fate was linked. She complied, never-
theless, with the proposal of the Master; and leaving
the Island of Aigas, she proceeded first to Castle
Downie, and afterwards to Dunkeld, where, according
to Arbuthnot, she was obliged by her brother, the
Marquis, to join in a prosecution against her husband,
for a crime which she had forgiven. According to a
letter from the Duke of Argyle, addressed to the Rev.
Mr. Carstares, chaplain to King William, she fully ex-
culpated the Master from the charges made against
him on her account.f This exculpation was doubtless
given when the unhappy woman was under the influence
* Arnot, p. 79. t Chambers's Dictionary.
-R 2
244 SIMON FRASER,
of that subtle and powerful mind, which lent its aid
to its guilty schemes. Simon Fraser himself, as we
have seen, in writing to Duncan Forbes, declared " I
am very hopeful in my dear wife's constancy, if they*
do not put her to death." This might be only a part of
his usual acting, a trait of that dissimulation which
was the moral taint of his character; or it may have
been true that the humiliated being whom he called
his wife had really learned to cherish one who seemed
born to be distrusted, hated, and shunned.
The return of Lady Lovat to her family was of
no avail in mitigating the indignation of the Marquis
of Athole. By his influence with the Privy Council,
who were, it is said, completely under his control, he
procured an order from King William for the march of
troops against the clan of Fraser, with instructions, ac-
cording to Simon Fraser, to overrun the country, to
burn, kill, and to destroy the whole clan, without ex-
ception ; and, without issuing a citation to Thomas
Fraser of Beaufort, or to his son, to appear without
examining a single witness a printed sentence was
published against all the Frasers, men and women and
children, and their adherents. Even the sanctuary of
churches was not to be respected : " in a word," says
Lord Lovat's Manifesto, " history, sacred or profane,
cannot produce an order so pregnant with such un-
exampled cruelty as this sentence, which is carefully
preserved in the house of Lovat, to the eternal con-
fusion and infamy of those who signed it."'* The
* Manifesto, p. 71.
LORD LOVAT. 245
Government which sanctioned the massacre of Glencoe
was perfectly capable of issuing a proclamation which
confounded the innocent with the guilty, and punished
before trial.
The Master of Lovat assembled his clan. That
simple and faithful people, trusting in the worth and
honour of their leader, swore that they would never
desert him, that they would leave their wives, their
children, and all that they most valued, to live and
die with him. An organized resistance was planned ;
and the Master of Lovat intreated his father, as he
himself expressed it, with tears, "to retire into the
country of his kinsmen, the Macleods of Rye/' The
proposal was accepted, and Thomas of Beaufort, for he
never assumed the ^ disputed title of Lord Lovat, took
refuge among that powerful and friendly clan.
The prosecution against the Master of Lovat was, in
the mean time, commenced in the Court of Justiciary ;
" the only case/' so it has been called, " since the
Revolution, in which a person was tried in absence,
before the Court of Justiciary, a proof led, a jury in-
closed, a verdict returned, and sentence pronounced;
forfeiting life, estate, honours, fame, and posterity."' 55 '
None of the parties who were summoned, appeared.
The jury returned a verdict finding the indictment
proved, and the Court adjudged Captain f raser and the
other persons accused, to be executed as traitors;
" their name, fame, memory, and honours, to be ex-
tinct, and their arms to be riven forth and deleted out
* A mot, p. 79.
246 SIMON FRASER,
of the books of arms; so that their posterity may never
have place, nor be able hereafter to bruite or enjoy
any honours, offices, titles, or dignities ; and to have
forfeited all their lands, heritages, and possessions
whatsoever."'''"
After this sentence, a severer one than that usually
passed in such cases, the Master of Lovat, for the
period of four years, led a life of skirmishes, escapes,
and hardships of every description. He retired into
the remote Highlands, then almost impenetrable ; and,
followed by a small band of his clansmen, he wandered
from mountain to mountain, resolved never to submit,
nor yield himself up to justice. Since his father's
estates were forfeited, and he could draw no means
of subsistence from them, he was often obliged to the
charity of the hospitable Highlanders for some of their
coarse fare ; and when that resource failed, or when
he had lived too long on the bounty of a neighbour-
hood, he and his companions made nightly incursions
into the Lowlands, and, carrying off cattle and pro-
visions, retreated again to their caverns, there to
satisfy hunger with the fruits of their incursions, f
During the four years of misery and peril in which
the Master of Lovat continued to evade justice, his
father died, among his relations in the island of Skye.
His decease was caused, according to the representa-
tion of his son, by a hasty march made to escape the
King's troops, who, he heard, were coming to the
islands to pursue him. Among the few humane traits
* Arnot, p. 90. f Life of Lord Lovat, p. 47.
LORD LOVAT. 247
in the character of Simon Fraser, the habitual respect
and affection borne by the Highlanders to parents
appears to have been perceptible. He speaks of
Thomas of Beaufort in his Life with regret and re-
gard; but seals those expressions of tenderness with
an oath that he " would revenge himself on his own
and his father's enemies with their blood, or perish in
the attempt." Such were his notions of filial piety.
The Master of Lovat had now attained the rank
for which he had made such sacrifices of safety and
of fame ; and had the hollow satisfaction of a disputed
title, with an attainted estate, and a life over which
the sword of destiny was suspended.
A sentence of outlawry followed that of condemna-
tion, and letters of fire and sword were issued against
him. He was forbidden all correspondence or inter-
course with his fellow subjects : he was cast off and
rejected by his friends, and in constant danger either
of being captured by the officers of justice, or assassin-
ated by his enemies. The commission for destroying
the clan of Fraser was not, indeed, put into execution ;
but that wild and beautiful district which owned him
for its lord, was ravaged by the King's troops stationed
at Inverness, or intimidated by the Highland army,
commanded by Lord Lovat's early companions, but
now deadly foes, Lord James and Lord Mungo Mur-
ray. At length, after gaining a complete victory,
according to his own account, at Stratheric, over the
tributaries of Lord Athole, and extracting from the
prisoners an oath by which they " renounced the
248 SIMON FRASER,
claims on our Saviour and their hopes in Heaven if
ever they returned to the territories of his enemy, the
guilty and unfortunate man grew weary of his life of
wandering, penury, and disgrace."
He was always fertile in expedients, and audacious
in proffering his petitions for mercy. During his
father's life, a petition in the form of a letter, written
by Thomas of Beaufort, and signed by seven Frasers,
had been addressed to the Duke of Argyle, appealing
to his aid at Court, upon the plea of that " entire
friendship which the family of Lovat had with, and
dependence upon, that of Argyle, grounded upon an
ancient propinquity of blood, and zealously maintained
by both through a tract and series of many ages/'*
The Duke of Argyle had, it was well understood, made
some applications on behalf of the Frasers ; and Lord
Lovat now resolved to push his interest in the same
friendly quarter, and to endeavour to obtain a remis-
sion of the sentence out against his head.
His efforts were the more successful, because King
William had by this time begun to suspect the fidelity
of Lord Tullibardine, and to place a strong reliance
upon the integrity and abilities of the Duke of Argyle.
The Duke represented to his Majesty not only the
ancient friendship subsisting between the house of
Campbell and that of Fraser, but also that the King
might spend " a hundred times the value of the Fraser
estate before he could reduce it, on account of its
inaccessible situation and its connection with the
* Anderson, p. 123.
LORD LOVAT. 249
neighbouring clans.* The Duke's account of his suc-
cess is given with characteristic good sense in the fol-
lowing letter :
THE EARL OF ARGYLE TO THE LAIRD OF CULLODEN.
" Edinburgh, Sept. 5, 1700.
"SIR,
" In complyance with your desyre and a great
many other gentlemen, with my own inclination to
endeavour a piece of justice, I have made it my chief
concern to obtain Beaufort's (now I think I may say
Lord Lovatt's) pardon, and the other gentlemen con-
cerned with him in the convocation and seizing of
prisoners, which are crymes more immediately against
his Majesty, which I have at last obtained and have
it in my custody. I designe to-morrow for Argyll-
shire ; and, there not being a quorum of Exchequer in
town, am oblidged to delay passing the remission till
next moneth. We have all had lyes enuf of his
Majestie before : his goodness in this will, I hope,
return my friend Culloden to his old consistency, and
make E. Argyll appear to him as good a Presbiterian
and a weel wisher to his country in no lesse a degree
then Tullibardine, who plundered my land some tyme
agoe, and Culloden's lately. Pray recover the same
spiritt you had at the Revolution ; let us lay assyde
all resentments ill founded, all projects which may
shake our foundation ; let us follow no more phantasms
(I may say rather divells), who, with a specious pre-
* Manifesto, p. 99.
250 SIMON FRASER,
text leading us into the dark, may drownd us. I
fynd some honest men's eyes are opened, and I shall
be sorie if Culloden's continue dimm. You have been
led by Jacobitt generales to fight for Presbiterie and
the liberty of the country. Is that consistent ? If
not speedily remedied, remember I tell you the pos-
teritie of such will curse them. Let me have a plain
satisfactorie answer from you, that I may be in perfect
charitie with Culloden. Adieu/'
Accordingly, the Duke having obtained his pardon,
Lord Lovat was enjoined to lay down his arms, and
to go privately to London. That sentence, which had
followed the prosecution on the part of Lady Lovat,
was not, at that time, remitted, for fear of disobliging
the Athole family. Upon arriving in London, Lord
Lovat found that Lord Seafield, the colleague of
the Earl of Tullibardine, was disinclined to risk in-
curring the displeasure of the Athole family. He put
off the signing of the pardon from time to time. He
was even so much in awe of the Earl of Tullibardine,
that he endeavoured to get the King to sign the
pardon when he was at Loo ; that Mr. Pringle, the
other Secretary of State, might bear the odium of
presenting it for signature. During this delay, Lord
Lovat, not being able with safety to return to Scot-
land, resolved to occupy the interval of suspense by a
journey into France.
Whilst Lord Lovat's affairs were in this condition,
the Marquis of Athole, resolved for ever to put it out
LORD LOVAT. 251
of Lord Lovat's power to gain any ascendancy over
the young heiress of Lovat, Amelia Fraser, was em-
ployed in arranging a marriage for that lady to
the son of Alexander Mackenzie, Lord Prestonhall.
It was agreed, by a marriage settlement, that Mr.
Mackenzie should take the name and title of Fraser-
dale, and that the children of that marriage should
bear the name of Fraser. The estate of Lovat was
settled upon Fraserdale in his life, with remainder
to his children by his wife.* It indeed appears, that
the estate of Lovat was never surrendered to Lord
Lovat; that he bore in Scotland, according to some state-
ments, no higher title than that of Lord of Beaufort ;
and that a regular receiver of the rents was appointed
by the . guardians of Amelia Fraser :f so completely
were the dark designs of Simon Fraser defeated in
their object ! He was, however, graciously received at
St. Germains, whither he went whilst yet, James the
Second, in all the glory of a sanctified superstition,
lived with his Queen, the faithful partner of his mis-
fortunes. Lord Lovat ascribes this visit to St. Ger-
mains to his intention of dissipating the calumnious
stories circulated against him by the Marquis of
Athole. The flourishing statement which he gives in
his memoirs of King James's reception, may, however,
be treated as wholly apocryphal. James the Second,
with all his errors, was too shrewd a man, too prac-
tised in kingcraft, to speak of the " perfidious family
of Athole," or to mention the head of that noble
* Arbutlmot, p. 53. t Macpherson. Stuart Papers, vol. i. p. 660.
252 SIMON ERASER,
house by the title of that " old traitor." Lord
Lovafs incapacity to write the truth, and his per-
petual endeavour to magnify himself in his narrative,
cause us equally to distrust the existence of that
document, with the royal seal affixed to it, which he
says the King signed with his own hand, declaring
that he would protect Lord Lovat from " the per-
fidious and faithless family of Athole."*
The fact is, and it redounds to the credit of James
the Second, that monarch, eager as he ever remained to
attach partisans to his interests, never received Lord
Lovat into his presence, f The infamy of the exploits
of the former Master of Lovat had preceded his visit
to France : the whole account of his own reception at
St. Germains, written with astonishing audacity, and
most circumstantially worded, was a fabrication.
Lord Lovat's usual readiness in difficulties did not
fail him ; he was a ruined man, and it was puerile
to shrink from expedients. He applied to the Pope's
nuncio, and expressed his readiness to become a Eo-
man Catholic. The suit was, of course, encouraged, and
the arch hypocrite, making a recantation of all his
former errors, professed himself a member of the holy
Catholic Church, and acknowledged the Pope as its head.
This avowal cost him little, for he was by no means
prejudiced in favour of any specific faith ; and it
gained him for the time, some little popularity in
the gay metropolis in which he had taken refuge.
King James, indeed, to his honour, was still reso-
* Manifesto. t Arbuthnot, p. 55.
LORD LOVAT. 253
lute in declining his personal homage ; but Louis the
Fourteenth was less scrupulous, and the Marquis de
Torcy, the favourite and Minister of the French King,
presented the abjured of England and Scotland at
the Palais of Versailles. It is difficult to picture to
oneself the savage and merciless Fraser, the pillager,
the destroyer, the outlaw, conversing, as he is said to
have done, with the saintly and sagacious Madame
Maintenon. It is scarcely possible to conceive elegant
and refined women of any nation receiving this de-
praved, impenitent man, with the rumour of his recent
crimes still fresh in their memory, into their polished
circles. Yet they made no scruple in that dissolute
city, to associate with the abandoned wretch who
dared not return to Scotland, and who only looked for
a pardon for his crimes through the potent workings
of a faction.
Lord Lovat well knew the value of female in-
fluence. He dressed in the height of fashion he
adapted his language and sentiments to the tone of
those around the Court. He was a man of consider-
able conversational talents ; " his deportment," says
his biographer, " was graceful and manly." When he
was first presented to Louis the Fourteenth, who was
desirous of asking some questions concerning the in-
vasion of Scotland, he is said to have prepared an
elaborate address, which he forgot in the confusion
produced by the splendour around him, but to have
delivered an able extempore jspeech, with infinite ease
and good taste, upon the spur of the moment, to the
254 SIMON FRASER,
great amusement of Louis, who learned from De Torcy
the circumstance.*
His advancement at the Court of Versailles was
interrupted by the necessity of his return to England,
in order to obtain at last a final pardon from the
King for his offences. It is singular that the instru-
ment by whom he sought to procure this remission
was William Carstairs, that extraordinary man, who
had suffered in the reign of James the Second the
thumb-screw, and had been threatened with the iron
boot, for refusing to disclose the correspondence be-
tween the friends of the Revolution. Mr. Carstairs
was now secretary to King William, and he little
knew, when he counselled that monarch to pardon
Lovat, what a partisan of the Jacobite cause he was
thus restoring to society.
His mediation was effectual, perhaps owing to a
dislike which had arisen in the mind of William
against the Athole family; and a pardon was pro-
cured for Lord Lovat. The affair was concluded at
Loo, whither Lovat followed the King from England.
" He is a bold man," the Monarch is said to have ob-
served to Carstairs, " to come so far under sentence of
death." The pardon was unlimited, and that it might
comprise the offence against Lady Athole, it was now
" a complete and ample pardon for every imaginable
crime." The royal seal was appended to it, and there
remained only to get that of Scotland also affixed.
Lovat entrusted the management of that delicate
* Arbuthnot, p. 52.
LORD LOVAT. 255
and difficult matter to a cousin, a Simon Fraser also,
by whose treachery it was suppressed ; and Lord
Seafield caused another pardon to pass the great seal,
in which the treason against King William was alone
specified ; and other offences were left unpardoned.
Upon this, Lord Lovat cited the Marquis of Athole
before the Lords Justiciary in Edinburgh to answer
before them for a false accusation : but on the very
day of supporting his charge, as the biographer of his
family relates, his patron the Duke of Argyle was in-
formed that the judges had been corrupted, and that
certain death would be the result if he appeared."*
This statement is taken from Lord Lovat's own com-
plication of falsehoods, his incomparably audacious
" Manifesto." Notwithstanding that Lovat had ap-
peared with a retinue of a hundred armed gentlemen,
as honorable as himself," with the intention of intimi-
dating the judges; in spite of the Duke of Argyle's
powerful influence, the friends of the outlawed noble-
man counselled him again to retreat to England, and
to suffer judgment to go by default. The Duke of
Argyle, he says, would not lose sight of him till he
had seen him on horseback, and had ordered his own
best horse to be brought round to the door. There
was no remedy for what was called by Lord Lovat's
friends, the " rascality" of the judges : and again this
unworthy Highlander was driven from his own country
to seek safety in the land wherein his offences had
received their pardon. The inflexibility of the justi-
* Anderson, p. 130.
256 SIMON FRASER,
ciary lords, or their known integrity, form a fine inci-
dent in history ; for the Scottish nation was at this
period, ridden by Court faction, and broken down by
recent oppression and massacre.
Lord Lovat, meeting the Duke of Argyle on the
frontiers, accompanied his Grace to London ; and here,
notwithstanding his boast, " that after his arrival in
London he was at the Duke's house every day/' he
appears, about this time, to have been reduced to a
state of miserable poverty, and merited desertion.
In the following letter to Mr. Carstairs, he complains
that nothing is done for him he applies to Mr.
Carstairs for a little money to carry him home,
" having no other door open."
LORD LOVAT TO MR. CARSTAIRS,
" London, June 20th, 1701.
" DEAR SIR,
" I reckon myself very unhappy that my friends
here do so much neglect me ; and I believe my last jour-
ney to England has done me a vast prejudice ; for if I
had been at home, I would have got something done in
my Lord Evelin's business, and would have got money
before now, that might serve me to go a volunteer
with the King, or maintain me anywhere ; but my
friend at home must have worse thoughts now of my
affairs than ever, having staid so long here, and got no-
thing done. However, I now resolve to go to Scotland,
not being able to subsist longer here. I have sent the
inclosed note, that, according to your kind promise, I
LORD LOVAT. 257
may have the little money which will carry me home,
and it shall be precisely paid before two months ; and
I must say, it is one of the greatest favours ever was
done me, not having any other door open, if you were
not so generous as to assist me, which I shall alwise
gratefully remember, and continue with all sincerity,
Dear Sir, Your faithful and obliged servant, LOVAT."
The death of William the Third revived the hopes
of the Jacobite party ; and to that centre of attrac-
tion the ruined and the restless, the aspiring and the
profligate, alike turned their regards. Never was so
great a variety of character, and so great a diversity
of motives displayed in any cause, as in the^various
attempts which were made to secure the restoration of
the Stuarts. On some natures those opinions, those
schemes, which were generally known under the name
of Jacobitism, acted as an incentive to self-sacrifice
and to a constancy worthy of better fortune. In
other minds the poison of faction worked irremediable
mischief: many who began with great and generous
resolves, sank into intrigue, and ended in infidelity to
the cause which that had espoused. But Lord Lovat
came under neither of these classes ; he knew not
the existence of a generous emotion ; he was consis-
tent in the undeviating selfishness and baseness of his
career.
If he had a sincere predilection, he was disposed
to the interest of King James. Hereditary tendencies
scarcely ever lose their hold upon the mind entirely :
VOL. n. s
258 SIMON FRASER,
notions on politics are formed at a much earlier age
than is generally supposed. The family of Eraser had
been, as we have seen, from ages immemorial employed
in defence of the Stuart Kings ; and early preposses-
sions were imbibed by the unworthy descendant of a
brave race, before his passions had interfered to warp
the generous sentiment of loyalty. As he grew up,
Lord Lovat learned to accommodate himself to any
party ; and it was justly observed by Lord Middleton,
one of the favourite courtiers at St. Germains, that
though he boasted so much of his adherence to his
Sovereign, he had never served any sovereign but King
William, in whose army he had commanded a regi-
ment.^
The period was now, however, approaching, when
he whose moral atmosphere was, like his native climate,
the tempest and the whirlwind, might hope to glean
some benefit from the impending storm which threat-
ened the peace of the British empire.
On the sixth of September, 1701, James the Second
of England expired at St. Germains. This event was
favourable to those of the Jacobite party who wished
to bring forward the interests of the young Prince
of Wales. James had long been infirm, and had laid
aside all schemes of worldly elevation. He had passed
his time between the diversion of hunting and the
duties of religion. His widowed Queen retained, on
the contrary, an ardent desire to see her son restored
to the throne of England. She implanted that wish
* Macpherson Papers.
LORD LOVAT. 259
in his own breast ; she nourished it by the society of
those whom she placed around him ; and she passed
her time in constantly forming new schemes for the
promotion of that restoration to which her sanguine
anticipations were continually directed.
The death of James was succeeded by two events :
one, the avowed determination of Louis the Fourteenth
to take the exiled family of Stuart under his protec-
tion, and the consequent proclamation of the young
Prince of Wales as King of England ; the other, the
bill for the attainder of the pretended Prince of Wales,
in the English Parliament, with an additional clause of
attainder against the Queen, Mary of Modena, together
with an oath of abjuration of the " Pretender." The
debates which impeded the progress of this measure,
plainly prove how deeply engrafted in the hearts of
many of the higher classes were those rights which
they were thus enforced to abjure.*
This was one of the last acts of William. His
death, in 1702, revived the spirits of the Jacobites,
for the partiality of Anne to her brother, the young
Prince, was generally understood ; and it appears,
from the letters which have been published in later
days to have been of a far more real and sisterly
character than has generally been supposed. The
death of the young Duke of Gloucester appeared, na-
turally, to make way for the restoration of the Stuart
family ; and there is no doubt but that Anne earnestly
desired it ; and that on one occasion, when her bro-
* See Smollet, vol. ix. pp. 245 and 255.
s2
260 SIMON PHASER,
tlier's life was in danger from illness, her anxiety was
considerable on his account.
It is, therefore, no matter of reproach to the Ja-
cobites, as an infatuation, although it has frequently
been so represented, that they cherished those schemes
which were ultimately so unfortunate, but which, had
it not been that " popery appeared more dreadful in
England than even the prospect of slavery and tem-
poral oppression," would doubtless have been suc-
cessful without the disastrous scenes which marked the
struggle to bring them to bear.
Lord Lovat was at this time no insignificant in-
strument in the hands of the Jacobite party. When
he found that the sentence of outlawry was not
reversed; when he perceived that he must no longer
hope for the peaceable enjoyment of the Lovat in-
heritance, his whole soul turned to the restoration of
King James ; and, after his death, to that of the
young Prince of Wales. Yet he seems, in the course
of the extraordinary affairs in which the Queen, Mary
of Modena, was rash enough to employ him, to have
one eye fixed upon St. James's, another upon St.
Germains, and to have been perfectly uncertain as
to which power he should eventually dedicate his
boasted influence and talents.
Lord Lovat may be regarded as the first promoter of
the Insurrection of 1715 in Scotland. Whether his
exertions proceeded from a real endeavour to promote
the cause of the Jacobites, or whether they were, as it
has been supposed, the result of a political scheme of
LORD LOVAT. 261
the Duke of Queensbury's, it is difficult to determine,
and immaterial to decide ; because his perfidy in dis-
closing the whole to that nobleman has been clearly
discovered. It seems, however, more than probable,
that he could not go on in the straightforward path ;
and that he was in the employ of the Duke of Queens-
bury from the first, has been confidently stated.*
Early in 1 702, Lord Lovat went to France, and pre-
tending to have authority from some of the Highland
clans and Scottish nobility, offered the services of his
countrymen to the Court of St. Germains. This offer
was made shortly before the death of James the Second,
and a proposal was made in the name of the Scottish
Jacobites to raise an army of twelve thousand men, if
the King of France would consent to land five thousand
men at Dundee, and five hundred at Fort William.
His proposals were listened to, but his integrity was
suspected.f
According to his own account, Lord Lovat, being
in full possession of his family honours, upon the
death of King William, immediately proclaimed the
Prince of Wales in his own province, and acting, as
he deckres, in accordance with the advice of his
friend, the Duke of Argyle, repaired to France, " in
order to do the best that he could in that country ."J
He immediately, to pursue his own statement, en-
gaged the Earl Lord Marischal, the Earl of Errol, Lord
* Lockhart Memoirs, vol. i. p. 75.
t Macpherson. Stuart Papers, vol. i. p. 629.
J Manifesto, p. 116.
262 SIMON FRASER,
Constable of Scotland, in the cause ; and then, pass-
ing through England and Holland, in order to go to
France through Flanders, he arrived in Paris with this
commission about the month of September.
Sir John Maclean, cousin-german of Lord Lovat,
had resided ten years at the Court of St. Germains,
and to his guidance Lovat confided himself. By Mac-
lean, Lovat was introduced to the Duke of Perth, as he
was called, who had been Chancellor of Scotland when
James the Second abdicated, and whose influence was
now divided at the Court of St. Germains, by the Earl of
Middleton. For never was faction more virulent than
in the Court of the exiled Monarch, and during the
minority of his son. The Duke of Perth represented
Lord Middleton as a " faithless traitor, a pensionary
of the English Parliament, to give intelligence of all
that passes at the Court of St. Germains." It was
therefore agreed that this scheme of the invasion
should be carried on unknown to that nobleman, and
to this secrecy the Queen, it is said, gave her consent.
She hailed the prospect of an insurrection in Scotland
with joy, and declared twenty times to Lord Lovat
that she had sent her jewels to Paris to be sold,
in order to send the twenty thousand crowns,* which
Lord Lovat represented would be necessary to equip
the Highland forces. Hitherto the Court of St. Ger-
mains had been contented merely to keep up a cor-
respondence with their friends, retaining them in their
principles, though without any expectation of imme-
* Two thousand five hundred pounds.
LORD LOVAT. 263
diate assistance. The offer of Lord Lovat was the
first step towards more active exertions in the cause of
the Stuarts. It is in this sense that he may almost
be considered as the father of the Rebellion of 1715.
He first excited those ardent spirits to unanimity
and to action ; and the project of restoration, which
only languished whilst Anne lived, was never after-
wards abandoned until after the year 1746.
Either through the indiscretion of Queen Mary of
Modena, or through some other channel, the plot of
the invasion became known to Lord Middleton. Jea-
lous of the family of Perth, his avowed enemies,
Lord Middleton, according to Lord Lovat, was en-
raged at the project, and determined to ruin the
projectors. It is very true that the antipathies be-
tween the prevailing factions may have excited Lord
Middleton's anger ; but it is evident, from his lord-
ship's letters and memoranda, that his dislike had a
far deeper source the profligacy of the agent Lovat ;
a profligacy which had deterred, as it was afterwards
found, many of the Highland chiefs from lending their
aid to the cause. Party fury, however, ran high,
and before the affair of the insurrection could be
settled, Lord Middleton, declaring that the last words
of King James had made a powerful impression on his
mind, retired into the convent of Benedictines at Paris,
to be satisfied of some doubts, and to be instructed
in the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church. But
this temporary retirement rather revived than de-
creased the favour of the Queen towards him. She
264 SIMON FRASER,
trusted to his advice; and, as the statement which
Lord Lovat gave of the affairs of Scotland appeared
too favourable to the excluded family to be believed,
Louis the Fourteenth counselled the Court of St.
Germains to send with Lord Lovat, or, as he is in-
variably called in all contemporary documents, Simon
Fraser, a person who could be trusted to bring back
a genuine account. Accordingly, James Murray of
Stanhope, the brother of Sir David Murray, was em-
ployed to this effect. " He was," says Lord Lovat,
" a spy of Lord Middleton's, his sworn creature, and
a man who had no other means of subsistence.*
From other accounts, however, Mr. Murray is shown
to have been a man of probity, although in great
pecuniary difficulties, as many of the younger mem-
bers of old families were at that time.f Mr. James
Murray was sent forward into Scotland six weeks
before Lord Lovat set out from France ; and the
Court had the wisdom to send with the latter another
emissary in the person of Mr. John Murray, of Aber-
cairney.
After these arrangements were completed, Lord Lovat
received his commission. He set out upon his expedi-
tion by way of Brussels, to Calais. Not being furnished
with passports, and having no other pass than the
orders of the Marquis De Torcy to the commandants of
the different forts upon the coast, he was obliged also,
to wait for an entire month, the arrival of an English
* Manifesto, p. 152.
f Sec Murray Papers. Advocate's Library in Edinburgh.
LORD LOVAT. 265
packet for the exchange of prisoners, the captain of
the vessel having been bribed to take him and his
companions on board as English prisoners of war, and
to put them on shore during the night, in his boat, near
Dover.
Through the interest of Louis the Fourteenth,
Lovat had received the commission from King James
of major-general, with power to raise and command
forces in his behalf :* and thus provided, he proceeded
to Scotland, where he was met by the Duke of Argyle,
his friend, and conducted by that nobleman to Edin-
burgh. Such was the simple statement of Lovat's first
steps on this occasion. According to his memorial,
which he afterwards presented to Queen Mary, he re-
ceived assurances of support from the Catholic gentry
of Durham, who, " when he showed them the King's
picture, fell down on their knees and kissed it."f This
flattering statement appeared, however, to resemble the
rest of the memorial of his proceedings, and met with
little or no credence even in the quarter where it was
most likely to be well received.
From the Duke of Queensbury, Lord Lovat received
a pass to go into the Highlands, which was procured
under feigned names, both for him and his two com-
panions, from Lord Nottingham, then Secretary of
State. After this necessary preliminary, Lord Lovat
made a tour among some of the principal nobility in
the Lowlands. He found them, even according to his
* Lockhart Memoirs, vol. i. p. 80.
$ Stuart Papers. Macphersou, vol. i. p. 641.
266 SIMON FRASER,
own statement, averse to take up arms without an
express commission from the King. But he remarks,
writing always as he does in the third person, " My
Lord Lovat pursued his journey to the Highlands,
where they were overjoyed to see him, because they
believed him dead, having been fourteen months in
France, without writing any word to his country.
They came from all quarters to see him. He showed
them the King's instructions, and the King of France's
great promises. They were ravished to see them, and
prayed to God to have their King there, and they
should soon put him on the throne. My Lord Lovat
told them that they must first fight for him, and beat
his enemies in the kingdom. They answered him,
that, if they got the assistance he promised them, they
would march in three days' advertisement, and beat
all the King's enemies in the kingdom."* This state-
ment, though possibly not wholly untrue, must be
taken with more than the usual degree of allowance
for the exaggeration of a partisan. Many of the
Highland noblemen and chieftains were, indeed, well
disposed to the cause of which Lord Lovat was the
unfortunate and unworthy representative ; but all
regretted that their young King, as they styled him,
should repose trust in so bad a character, and in many
instances refused to treat with Lovat. And, indeed,
the partial success which he attained might be ascrib-
ed to the credit of his companion Captain John
Murray, a gentleman of good family, whose brother,
* Stuart Papers. Macpherson, vol. i. p. 646.
LORD LOVAT. 267
Murray of Abercairney, was greatly respected in his
county.
The embryo of the two Rebellions may be distinctly
traced in the plain and modest memorial which Captain
Murray also presented, on his return from Scotland,
at the Court of St. Germains. " The Earl and Coun-
tess of Errol," he relates, " with their son Lord Hay,
were the first to whom I spoke of the affairs of the
King of England." (( Speaking at Edinburgh with the
King's friends, about his Majesty's aifairs, in a more
serious way than I had done before, I found that these
affairs had not been mentioned among them a long
time before, and that it was to them an agreeable sur-
prise to see some hopes that they were to be revived
by my negotiation."
The greatest families in Scotland were, indeed,*
ready to come forward upon condition of a certain
assistance from France ; and a scheme seems even to
have been suggested for the invasion of England, and
to have formed the main feature in one of those various
plots which were as often concerted, and as often de-
feated, in favour of the excluded family.f
In France, these continual schemes, and the various
changes in the English Government, were regarded
with the utmost contempt. " The people," writes the
Duke of Perth, Chancellor of Scotland, " are kept from
amusement, frameing conceits of government and re-
ligion, such as our giddy people frame to themselves,
and make themselves the scorn and reproach of man-
'* Stuart Papers. Macphcrson, vol. i. p. 678. + Ibid. p. G82.
268 SIMON FRASER,
kind, for all are now foes under the name of English,
and we are said to be so changeable and foolish, that
nothing from our parts seems strange. Beheading, de-
throning, and banishing of kings, being but children's
play with us."*
But all the promise of this plan was defeated, as
it is generally and confidently asserted, by the charac-
ter of Lord Lovat. A general distrust prevailed, of
his motives and of his authority, even in that very
country where he had once led on his clansmen to
crimes for which they had paid dearly in the humi-
liation and devastation of their clan. He was indeed,
prevented from lingering near the home of his youth,
from the decrees which had been issued against him,
and the risk of discovery. Disappointed in his efforts,
unable to raise even fifty men of his own clan, and
resolved upon gaining influence and favour in some
quarter or another, he determined upon betraying
the whole scheme, which has since obtained in his-
tory the name of the Scottish Plot, to the Duke of
Queensbury.
It was on pretext of obtaining a passport for
France, that Lord Lovat now sought an interview with
the Duke in London. He there discovered to that
able and influential minister, then Secretary of State
for Scotland, the entire details of the meditated in-
surrection, together with the names of the principal
Scottish nobility concerned in the conspiracy. The
* Letter from James Earl of Perth, Chancellor of Scotland, &c.
Edited by William Jerdan, Esq., and printed for the Camden Society,
p. 50.
LORD LOVAT. 269
Duke, it appears, perfectly appreciated the character
of his informant. He seems to have reflected, that
from such materials as those which composed the despe-
rate and hardened character of Lovat, the best in-
struments of party may be selected. He consented,
it is generally believed, although historians differ
greatly according to their particular bias, as to the
fact, to furnish Lovat with a passport, and to employ
him as a spy in the French Court, in order to pro-
secute his discoveries still farther.
When Lovat was afterwards charged with this act
of treachery, he declared, that he had told the Duke
of Queensbury little more than what had escaped
through the folly or malice of the Jacobites ; but
acknowledged that a mutual compact had passed be-
tween him and the Duke of Queensbury. *
Somerville, in his history of the reign of Queen Anne,
remarks, that it is doubtful whether Fraser of Lovat
had ever any intention of performing effectual service
to the Chevalier. " No sooner had he set foot in Eng-
land," adds the same historian, "than he formed the
nefarious project of counter-plotting his associate, and
betraying the trust which he had procured through the
facility and precipitate confidence of the Queen."f
The Duke of Queensbury immediately communi-
cated the plot, disclosed by Lovat, to Queen Anne.
In the main points the conduct of that able and
influential Minister appears to have been tolerably
free from blame during the inquiry into the Scottish
* Arbuthnot, p. 63. t Somerville, p. 177.
270 SIMON FRASER,
plot which was afterwards instituted ; but it is a proof
of the horror and suspicion in which Lord Lovat was
held, that the Duke of Queensbury's negotiations with
so abandoned a tool for some time diminished the
political sway which he had heretofore possessed in
Scotland.*
Lord Lovat returned to Paris, where he had the
effrontery to hand in a boasting memorial of his
services, written with that particularity which gives
an air of extreme accuracy to any statement. In this
art he was generally accomplished, yet he seems on this
occasion to have failed. For some time he flourished ;
alternately, one day at Versailles one day at St.
Germains ; and, whilst an under-current of dislike
and suspicion marked his course, all, apparently,
went on successfully with this great dissembler. The
Earl of Middleton, indeed, was undeceived.
" I doubt not," he writes to the Marquis De Torcy
" you will be as much surprised at Lord Lovat's me-
morial as we have been ; for although I never had a
good opinion of him, yet, I did not believe him fool
enough to accuse himself. He has not, in some
places, been as careful as authors of romance to
preserve probability."
" If the King thinks proper to apprehend him,"
concludes Lord Middleton, "it should be done with-
out noise. His name should not be mentioned any
more, and at the same time his papers should be
* Somerville, p. 182. Also, Lockhart's Memoirs, p. 180 ; Macpher-
son, vol. i. p. 640.
LORD LOVAT. 271
seized."* Such were the preparations for the secret
incarceration which it was then the practice of the
French Court to sanction.
Lord Lovat was not Ixmg in ignorance of the in-
trigues, as he calls them, which were carried on to
blast his reputation at the Court of St. Germains.
In other words, he perceived that the double game
which he had been playing was discovered, and dis-
covered in time to prevent any new or important
trust being committed to his command. He fell ill,
or perhaps feigned illness, probably in order to ac-
count for his absence from Court ; and, although
backed by the influence of the Earl of Melfort,
brother of the Duke of Perth, and by the Marquis
De Torcy, he found that he could never recover the
confidence of the Queen Mother.
He took the usual plan adopted by servants who
perceive that they are on the eve of being discarded
he announced his determination to retire. " My
Lord/' he wrote to Lord Middleton, " I am daily in-
formed, that the Queen has but a scurvy opinion of
me, and that I did her Majesty bad rather than
good service by my journey. My Lord, I find that
my enemies have greater power with the Queen than
I can have ; and to please them, and ease her Majesty,
I am resolved to meddle no more with any affairs
till the King is of age." f
There seemed to have been little need of this,
voluntary surrender of his employments ; for. after
t Stuart Papers, p. 652. t Id. p. 655.
272 SIMON FRASER,
undergoing an examination, in writing from the
Pope's Nuncio, and after several letters had passed
between Lord Middleton and himself, the alterca-
tion was peremptorily closed by a lettre de cachet,
and Lord Lovat was committed, according to some
statements, to the Bastille, as others relate, to the
Castle of Angouleme.* Upon this occasion the har-
dihood of Lord Lovat's character, which shone out so
conspicuously at his death, was thus exemplified.
" As they went along the Captain (by this name he
was generally called among his friends) discoursed
the officer with the same freedom as if he had been
carrying him to some merry-meeting ; and, on ob-
serving on his men's coats a badge all full of points,
with this device monstrorum terror, ( the terror of
monsters,' he said wittily, pointing to the men, i Be-
hold there the terror, and here the monster!' mean-
ing himself. ( And if either of the Kings had a
hundred thousand of such, they would be fitter to
fright their enemies than to hurt any one of them/
He took occasion, also, to let his attendants know
of what a great and noble family he was, and how
much blood had been spent in the cause of the
Monarchs by his ancestors." f
According to Lord Lovat's manifesto, he was at
dinner at Bourges, whither he had been sent on some
pretext by the French Government, when "a grand
fat prevot, accompanied by his lieutenant and twenty-
four archers, stole into the drawing-room, and seized
* Anderson. Chambers. t Arbuthnot, p. 89.
LORD LOVAT. 273
Lord Lovat as if he had been an assassin, demanding
from him his sword in the King's name. The villain
of a prevot," adds his Lordship, " was so obliging as
to attend Lord Lovat, with his archers, all the way
to Angouleme. He had the luck to procure a cursed
little chaise, where Lord Lovat was in a manner
buried alive under the unwieldy bulk of this enor-
mous porpoise." This relation, so different from that
given by Mr. Arbuthnot, weakens the veracity of both
accounts, and leads one to infer that the long nar-
rative by the reverend gentleman of Lord Lovafs
adventures in the Bastille were written upon hear-
say.*
In the Castle of Angouleme Lord Lovat continued
for three years ; at first, being treated with great se-
verity : " thirty-five days in perfect darkness, where
every moment he expected death, and prepared to meet
it with becoming fortitude. He listened with eagerness
and anxiety to every noise, and, when his door
screached upon its hinges, he believed that it was the
executioner come to put an end to his unfortunate
days/'
In this predicament, finding that the last punish-
ment was delayed, he " thought proper to address him-
self to a grim jailoress, who came every day to throw
him something to eat, in the same silent and cautious
* Of the two accounts of Lord Lovat 's imprisonment, namely, Mr.
Arbuthnot's and Lord Lovat's, the latter bears, strange to say, the greatest
air of truth. Mr. Arbuthnot's, independent of his erring in the place of
imprisonment, appears to me a pure romance.
VOL. II. T
274 SIMON FRASER,
manner in which you would feed a mad dog."* By
the " clink of a louis d'or," the prisoner managed to
subdue the fidelity of this fair jailoress; she supplied
him with pens and paper, and he immediately began a
correspondence with his absent friends at the French
Court.
After a time, the severity of Lord Lovat's imprison-
ment was mitigated. The Castle of Angouleme was,
in a manner, an open prison, having an extensive
park within its walls, with walks open to the inhabi-
tants ; and here, through the influence of Monsieur De
Torcy, Lord Lovat was permitted to take exercise.
His insinuating manners won upon the inhabitants,
and the prison of Angouleme became so agreeable to
him, that he was often heard to say, that " if there
was a beautiful and enchanting prison in the world, it
was the Castle of Angouleme."
Meantime, the scheme of invasion was by no means
relinquished on the part of the Jacobites, although it
had received a considerable check from the treachery
of its agents.
It is stated by some historians that scarcely had
Lord Lovat quitted England, than Sir John Maclean,
his cousin-german, and Campbell, of Glendarnel, dis-
closed the plot to Lord Athole and Lord Tarbat.
These noblemen instantly went to Queen Anne, and
accused the Duke of Queensbury of high treason, in
carrying on a villanous plot with the Court of St
Germains. Queensbury defended himself before the
* Manifesto, p. 301.
LORD LOVAT. 275
House of Lords, and the accusation, which rested chiefly
on the assertions of Ferguson, the famous hatcher of
plots, was declared false and scandalous, and Ferguson
was committed to Newgate. The reluctance of the
Duke of Queensbury to give up the correspondence,
excited, however, suspicions of his integrity ; which, as
Harley, Lord Oxford, expressed it, could only be cleared
up by Fraser, Lord Lovat ;* but Lord Lovat was not
then to be found.
In all this singular and complicated affair, it is im-
possible to help wondering at the folly and audacity
which Lord Lovat had shown in returning to France,
conscious of having placed himself at the mercy of
ruthless politicians, and aware that in that country he
could expect no redress nor protection from law. But
the original crime for which he had been sent forth,
an outlaw from his country, was the source of all his
subsequent mistakes and misfortunes. France was
open to him ; Scotland was closed ; and England was
a scene of peril to one who trod on fragile ice, be-
neath which a deep gulf yawned.
Lord Lovat had been two years in prison before any
of his former friends, for even he was not wholly de-
void of partisans, interfered with success in his behalf ;
and it was the good, old-fashioned feeling of kindred
that finally moved the Marquis De Frezeliere, or Frezel,
or Frezeau de la Frezeliere, to interest himself in the
fate of his despised, and perhaps forgotten, relative.
" The house of Frezeliere, which ascends," says Lord
* Carstares. State Papers, p. 718.
T 2
276 SIMON FRASER,
Lovat, "in an uninterrupted line, and without any
unequal alliance, to the year 1030, with its sixty-four
quarterings in its armorial bearings, and all noble, its
titles of seven hundred years standing in the Abbey of
Notre Dame de Noyers in Touraine, and its many
other circumstances of inherent dignity," was, as we
have seen, derived from the same blood with the family
of Frezel, or Fraser. In former, and more prosperous
days, a common and authentic Act of Recognition of
this relationship had been drawn up at Paris by the
Marquis and his many illustrious kinsmen, the three
sons of the Marshal Luxembourg de Montmorenci ; and
executed, on the other hand, by Simon Fraser, Lord
Lovat, and by his brother, and several of their
nearest kin.
The Marquis De Frezeliere appears to have been a
fine specimen of that proud and valiant aristocracy,
not even then wholly broken down in France by the
effeminacy of the times. He was haughty and deter-
mined, " an eagle in the concerns of war," and of a
spirit not to be subdued. By his powerful inter-
cession, checked only by the disgust which Mary of
Modena felt towards Lovat, he procured from the
King of France permission for his relative to repair
to the waters of Bourbon for the restoration of his
health. This order was signed by Louis the Four-
teenth, and countersigned by the Marquis De Torcy, as
" Colbert." Four days afterwards, a second order was
received by the authorities at Angouleme, by which
his Majesty commanded that Lord Lovat, after the re-
LORD LOVAT. 277
storation of his health, should repair to his town of
Saumur, until further orders. " At the same time,"
says Lord Lovat, " he was permitted to take with him
the Chevalier De Frezel, his brother." These orders
were dated August the second and August the four-
teenth, 1707.
The brother, whom Lord Lovat always designates as
the Chevalier de Fraser, had been placed with a Doctor
of the Civil Law at Bourges, in order to learn French,
and the profession of a civilian. He had been arrested
at the same time with Lord Lovat ; and was now, after
a temporary separation, permitted to share the plea-
sures of a removal to Bourbon. According to Lord
Lovat, a pension from the French Government was
settled upon this young man as long as he resided in
France ; and Lord Lovat received also the ample in-
come of four thousand francs, (one hundred and sixty-
six pounds, thirteen shillings and fourpence,) from the
same quarter : nor was it in the power of his enemies
at St. Germains to induce Louis the Fourteenth to
withdraw this allowance.*
The Marquis de Frezeliere continued firm in his
regard towards Lord Lovat. On his road to Saumur,
Lord Lovat was received and entertained at the
chateau of the Marquis with hospitality and kind-
ness, and no opportunity was omitted by which the
Marquis could testify the sincerity of his interest in
the fate of his relative. Meantime daily reports were
circulated that the projected insurrection, far from
* Manifesto, p. 328.
278 SIMON FRASER,
being abandoned, had been revived, and that the
Chevalier was going to undertake the conduct of the
invasion in person. But that young Prince was still
inexorable to any petition in favour of Lovat, and
was wisely resolved not to let him participate in the
operations. " Were he not already in prison," he
is stated by Lovat himself to have said, " I would
make it my first request to the King of France to
throw him into one." This fixed aversion was owing
to the determined dislike of the Queen to abdicate,
as it was her resolution, if there were no other person
to be employed, never to make Lord Lovat an instru-
ment of her affairs.
Lovat, therefore, now clearly perceived that, dur-
ing the life of the Queen and of Lord Middle-
ton, he must look for nothing favourable from the
Court of St. Germains. That of Versailles, although,
by his account, decidedly friendly to his release,
refused to support those whom the Chevalier had
renounced. He resolved, therefore, to make every
exertion to return to his own country, and to place
himself once more at the head of his clan, who, in
spite of his crimes, in spite of his long absence and
imprisonment, had still refused to acknowledge any
other chief. The attempt was indeed desperate, but
Lovat resolved to risk it, and to escape, at all events,
from France.
To the vengeance of the Athole family, Lord Lovat
always imputed much of the severity shown him
by the Court at St. Germains : and it is probable
LORD LOVAT. 279
that the representations of that powerful house may
have contributed to the odium in which the character
of Lord Lovat was universally held. His own deeds
were, however, sufficient to ensure him universal
hatred. The great source of surprise is, that this
unscrupulous intriguer, this unprincipled member of
society, seems, at times, during the course of his event-
ful life, to have met with friends, firm in their faith
to him, and to have enjoyed, in that respect, the
privilege of virtue.
The young heiress of Lovat, Amelia Fraser, was
now married to Alexander Mackenzie, son of Lord
Prestonhall ; Mr. Mackenzie had adopted the title of
Fraserdale ; and a son had been born of this marriage,
who had been named after his grandfather, Hugh.
Fraserdale and his lady had taken possession both
of the title and estates of Lord Lovat, during his
absence ; but, since the dignity and estates had always
been enjoyed by an heir-male, from the origin of the
house of Fraser, these claimants to the estate of the
outlawed Lovat spread a report that the honours and
lands had, in old times, belonged to the Bissets, whose
daughter and only child had married a Fraser, from
whom the estates had descended to the heir of that
line. A suit was instituted against Lord Lovat and,
on the ninth of March, 1703, Lord Prestonhall, the
father of Fraserdale, himself adjudged the Lordship
and Barony of Lovat to Amelia Fraser. An entail of
the estates and honours upon the heirs of the mar-
riage between Amelia Fraser and Mackenzie of Fraser-
280 SIMON FRASER,
dale, was then executed, and the former assumed the
title of Lady Lovat, whilst her son was designated
the Master of Lovat.*
Lord Prestonhall seems to have acted with the
same unscrupulous spirit which characterizes most of
the business transactions of those who intermeddled
with the forfeited or disputed estates. It was his
aim, as the Memorial for the Lovat case, subsequently
tried, sets forth, to extirpate the clan of the Erasers,
and to raise that of the Mackenzies upon its ruins.
" Accordingly," says Mr. Anderson, in his curious and
elaborate account of the house of Fraser, " he framed
a deed, with the sly contrivance of sinking the Frasers
into the Mackenzies, by encouraging the former to
change their names, and providing, as a condition of
the estate, that should they return to, and reassume
their ancient name of Fraser, they should forfeit their
right."f
The arms of Mackenzie, Macleod of Lewis, and
Bisset, were to be quartered with those of Fraser, in
this deed, which bore the signature of Robert Mac-
kenzie, and was dated the twenty-third of February,
1706.
This decision, and the deed which followed it, ap-
peared to complete the misfortunes of the disgraced
and banished Lord Lovat. But, in fact, the act of
injustice and rapacity, so repugnant to the spirit of
the Highlanders, this attempt to force upon the heirs
of Fraser a foreign name, and thus to lower the
* Anderson, p. 137. t Id. p. 138.
LORD LOVAT. 281
dignity of the clan, was the most auspicious event
that could happen to the wretched outlaw. What was
his exact condition, or what were his circumstances,
during the seven years of his imprisonment, three
of which were passed under strict, though not harsh
control, in the Castle of Angouleme, and four, ap-
parently on his parole, in the Fortress of Saumur, it
is not easy to describe. The cause of the obscurity of
his fate at this time, is not that too little, but that
too much, has been stated relative to his move-
ments.
It is always an inconvenience when one cannot
take a man's own story in evidence. According to
Lord Lovat's own account, these weary years were
spent in visits to different members of the nobi-
lity. The charming Countess de la Roche succeeded
the Marquis de la Frezeli&re as his friend and pa-
troness, after the death of the Marquis in 1711, an
event which, according to Lord Lovat's statement,
brought him nearly to the grave from grief. The
Countess was a woman of a masculine understanding,
and of admirable talents, bold, insinuating, and am-
bitious. Her education in the household of the great
Conde, and her long attendance upon the Princess de
Conti, the hero's daughter, had qualified her for those
arduous and delicate intrigues, without which no
woman of intellect at that period in France might
think herself sufficiently distinguished.
The appointment of the Duke of Hamilton as am-
bassador at the Court of Louis, rendered such a friend
282 SIMON FRASER,
as Madame de la Roche, who was also distantly re-
lated to him, very essential for the prosecution of
Lord Lovat^s present schemes, which were, to ob-
tain his release, and to procure employment in any
enterprise concerted by the Jacobites against Eng-
land.
Fate, however, relieved Lord Lovat from one ap-
prehension. The Duke of Hamilton was killed in a
duel by Lord Mohun, in Hyde Park ; and this fresh
source of danger was thus annihilated. The kindness
which the famous Colbert, Marquis de Torcy, had
shown to Lord Lovat, and the promise which he had
given to that nobleman, not to break his parole, and
to return to England, seems to have been the only
check to a long-cherished project on the part of Lord
Lovat to escape to London, and to risk all that law
might there inflict. It is uncertain in what manner,
during the tedious interval between intrigues and
intrigues, he solaced his leisure. It has been stated
by one of his biographers that he actually joined a
society of Jesuits, by another, that he took priest's
orders, and acted as parochial priest at St. Omers. Of
course, in compiling a defence of his life, the wary
man of the world omitted such particulars as would,
at any rate, betray inconsistency, and beget suspicion.
His object in becoming a Jesuit, is said to have been
to hear confessions and to discover intrigues. With
respect to the report of his having entered the order
of Jesuits, it is justly alleged in answer, that no Jesuit
is permitted to hear confessions until he has been
LORD LOVAT. 283
fifteen years a member of the society, or, at least, in
priests orders.*
The rumour of his having become an ecclesiastic,
in any way, no doubt originated in Lord Lovat's joke
on a subsequent occasion, when " he declared that had
he wished it, and had remained in priest's orders,
which he did not deny having assumed for some pur-
pose, he might have become Pope in time." f
Whilst Lord Lovat, contrary to the advice of Ma-
dame la Roche, was deliberating whether he should
not leave France, he was surprised, in the summer
of 1 71 4, by a visit from one of the principal gen-
tlemen of his clan, Fraser of Castle Lader, son of
Malcolm Fraser, of Culdelthel, a very considerable
branch of the family of Lovat. This gentleman
brought Lord Lovat a strong remonstrance from all
his clan at his absence an entreaty to him to
return a recommendation that he would join him-
self in an alliance with the Duke of Argyle, who
was disposed to aid him; he added affectionate greet-
ings from some of the principal gentry of his neigh-
bourhood, and, among others, from John Forbes, of
Culloden. This important ally was the father of the
justly celebrated Duncan Forbes, afterwards Lord Pre-
sident. These messages decided Lord Lovat. After
some indecision he left Saumur, and being allowed
by his parole to travel to any place in France, he
* Free~ Examination of the Memoir of Lord Lovat, quoted in Ar-
buthnot, p. 201.
t Anderson, p. 136.
284 SIMON FRASER,
went on the twelfth of August, 1714, to Rouen, under
pretence of paying a visit there. From Rouen he
proceeded to Dieppe, but finding no vessel there, he
travelled along the coast of Normandy, and from
thence to Boulogne. From that port he sailed in a
small smack, in a rough sea, during the night, and
landed at Dover, November the eleventh, 1714.
He met his kinsman, Alexander Fraser, on the quay
at Dover, and with him proceeded to London. His
former friend, the Duke of Argyle, was now dead;
but alliances, as well as antipathies, are hereditary in
Scotland, and John, Duke of Argyle, was well disposed
to assist one whose family had been anciently con-
nected with his own. Besides, the state of public
affairs was now totally changed since Lord Lovat had
left England, and it was incumbent upon the Govern-
ment to avail themselves of any tool which they might
require for certain ends and undertakings.
Queen Anne was now dead, the last of the Stuart
dynasty in this kingdom. Whatever were her failings
and her weaknesses as a woman, she has left behind
her the character of having loved her people ; and she
was endeared to them by her purely English birth,
her homely virtue of economy, and her domestic un-
pretending qualities. Her reign had been one of mercy ;
no subject had suffered for treason during her rule :
she had few relations with foreign powers ; and when,
in her opening speech to the Parliament, she expressed
that her heart was " wholly English," she spoke her
LORD LOVAT. 285
real sentiments, and described, in that simple touch
the true character of her mind.
She was succeeded by a German Prince, who im-
mediately showered marks of his royal favour upon
the Whigs ; whilst the Tories, who formed so large a
party in the kingdom, were alienated from the Go-
vernment by the manifest aversion to them which
George the First rather aimed to evince than laboured
to conceal.
The Jacobites differed in some measure from the
Tories, inasmuch as the latter were generally well
affected to the accession of the Hanoverian family, until
disgusted by the choice of the new administration.
Dissensions quickly rose to their height; and when
the Government was attacked in the House of Com-
mons by Sir William Wyndham, the unusual sounds,
" the Tower! the Tower!" were heard once more amid
the inflamed assembly.
The spirit of disaffection quickly spread throughout
England ; the very life-guards were compelled by an
angry populace, when celebrating the anniversary of
the Restoration of the Stuarts, to join in the cry of
" High Church and Ormond !" Lord Bolingbroke had
withdrawn to France treasonable papers were dis-
covered and intercepted on their way from Jacobite
emissaries to Dr. Swift, tumults were raised in the
city of London and in Westminster, and were pun-
ished with a severity to which the metropolis had
been unaccustomed since the reign of James the Se-
286 SIMON FRASER,
cond. All these manifestations had their origin in
one common source, the deeply concerted schemes
which were now nearly brought into maturity at the
Court of St. Germains.
The following extract of a letter dated from Lune-
ville, and taken from the Macpherson Papers, shows
what was meditated abroad ; it is in Schrader's hand.
(Translation.)
" Luneville, June 5th, 1714.
" It is likely the Chevalier St. George is preparing
for some great design, which is kept very private. It
was believed he would drink the waters of Plombi&re
for three weeks, as is customary, and that he would
come afterwards to pass fifteen days at Luneville ; but
he changed his measures ; he did not continue to
drink the waters, which he drank only for ten days,
and came back to Luneville on Saturday last. He sets
out to-morrow very early for Bar. Lord Galmoy went
before him, and set out this morning. Lord Talmo,
who came lately from France, is with him, and some
say that the Duke of Berwick is incognito in this
neighbourhood.
" The Chevalier appears pensive, that, indeed, is
his ordinary humour. Mr. Floyd, who has been these
five days at the Court of his Royal Highness, told a
mistress he has there, that when he leaves her now, he
will take his leave of her perhaps for the last time :
in short, it is certain that everything here seems
sufficiently to announce preparations for a journey.
It is said, likewise, in private, that the Chevalier has
LORD LOVAT. 287
had letters that the Queen is very ill. I have done
everything I could to discover something of his de-
signs. I supped last night with several of his at-
tendants, thinking to learn something ; but they avoid
to explain themselves. They only say that the Che-
valier did not find himself the better for drinking the
waters ; that he would now go to repose himself for
some time at Bar, until he goes, the beginning of next
month, to the Prince De Vandemont's, at Commercie,
where their Royal Highnesses will come likewise.
They say they do not know yet if they will remain
in this country or not ; that they will follow the
destiny of the Chevalier, and that it is not known yet
what it shall be."*
When Lord Lovat thus precipitately threw himself
once more on the mercy of his country, he could not
have been ignorant that the cabals which had long
been carried on against the Hanoverian succession,
were now shortly to break out in open rebellion ; and
it was, without doubt, in the hope of profiting in some
measure during the confusion of the coming troubles,
that he had hastened, at the risk of his life, to
England.
He entrusted the secret of his arrival immediately
to the Duke of Argyle, whom he met in London.
That nobleman, one of the few disinterested men whose
virtues might almost obtain the name of patriotism in
those days, saw the danger which Lord Lovat would
incur if he returned to Scotland. Sentence of death
* From the Macpherson Papers, vol. ii. p. 622.
288 SIMON FRASER,
had been passed upon him ; it might be acted upon by
an adverse judge at any moment. He besought Lovat
to remain in England until a remission of that sen-
tence could be obtained ; and for this purpose addresses
to the Court for mercy were circulated for signature
throughout the northern counties of Scotland. * To
further the success of this scheme, Lord Lovat had
recourse to his neighbour and early friend, John
Forbes, laird of Culloden, whose after-services in the
royal cause, and whose strict alliance of friendship
with the Duke of Argyle, secured to him a considerable
influence in that part of Scotland in which he resided.
" Much honoured and dear Sir," thus wrote Lord
Lovat to the Laird, " The real friendship that I
know you have for my person and family makes me
take the freedom to assure you of my kind service,
and to entreat you to join with my other friends be-
tween Sky and Nesse, to sign the addresse which the
Court requires, in order to give me my remission. Your
cousin James, who has generously exposed himself to
bring me out of chains, will inform you of all steps
and circumstances of my affairs since he saw me.
I wish, dear Sir, from my heart, you were here ; I am
confident you would speak to the Duke of Argyle and
to the Earl of Isla, to let them know their own in-
terest, and their reiterated promises to do for me.
Perhaps they may have, sooner than they expect, a
most serious occasion for my service. But it is
needless to preach now that doctrine to them ; they
* Culloden Papers, p. 32.
LORD LOVAT. 289
think themselves in ane infallible security ; I wish
they may not be mistaken. However, I think it's the
interest of all who love this Government, betwixt Sky
and Nesse, to see me at the head of my clan, ready to
join them ; so that I believe none of them will refuse
to sign ane adresse to make me a Scotsman. I am
perswaded, dear Sir, that you will be of good example
to them on that head. But secrecy, above all, must
be keept ; without which all may go wrong. I hope
you will be stirring for the Parliament, for I will not
be reconciled to you if you let Prestonall outvote you.
Brigadier Grant, to whom I am infinitely obliged, has
written to Foyers to give you his vote, and he is ane
ungrat villian if he refuses him. [If] I was at home,
the little pitiful barons of the Aird durst not refuse
you. But I am hopefull that the news of my going to
Brittain will hinder Prestonall to go north ; for I may
come to meet him when he lest thinks of me. I am
very impatient to see you, and to assure you most
sincerely how much I am, with love and respect, Right
Honourable, your most obedient and most humble
servant, " LOVAT."
" The 24th of Nov. 1714."
The nature of the address to which this letter
refers was not only an appeal to the King in behalf
of Lord Lovat, but also an engagement, on the part
of his friends, to answer for the loyalty of Lord Lovat,
in any sum required. It is remarkable that when
James Fraser, the kinsman of Lovat, arrived in the
VOL. II. U
290 SIMON FRASER,
county of Inverness, and declared the purpose of his
journey, the lairds who were well-affected to the
nobility, joined in giving their subscriptions ; and the
Earl of Sutherland, the Lord Strathallan, and the
nobility of the counties of Ross and Sutherland, signed
them also. The Duke of Montrose, however, boldly
opposed them, and described Lord Lovat as a man
unworthy of the King's confidence.' 5 ' 4 '
A year, however, had elapsed, whilst Lovat was
hanging about the Court, before the address was
brought to London by Lord Isla, brother of the Duke
of Argyle, and afterwards Archibald, Duke of Argyle.
The address was presented on Sunday, the twenty-
fourth of July, 1715. "The Earl of Orkney/' says
Lord Lovat, " who was the lord in waiting, held out
his hand to receive them from the King, according to
custom. The King, however, drew them back, folded
them up, and, as if he had been pre-advised of their
contents, put them into his pocket. "f And with this
sentence, denoting that the crisis of his affairs was
at hand, end the memoirs which Lord Lovat either
wrote or dictated to others, of the early portion of
his life.
Meantime, the Earl of Stair, the English ambassador
at Paris, had discovered the embryo scheme of inva-
sion, and had communicated it to the British Court,
although, unhappily for both parties, not insufficient
time to damp the hopes of the unfortunate Jacobites.
On the sixth of September, 1715, the Earl of Mar set
* Manifesto, p. 466. t Ibid. p. 468.
LORD LOVAT. 291
up his standard at Braemar. Consistent with the usual
fatality attending every attempt of the Stuarts, this
event was preceded only five days by the death of
Louis the Fourteenth the only real friend of the
excluded family; but the Jacobites had now proceeded
too far to recede. *
Lord Lovat resolved, however, to profit in the gene-
ral disasters. His influence among his clansmen was
obvious : whether for good or, in some instances,
for evil, there is much to admire in the resolute
adherence of those faithful mountaineers, who had
resisted the assumption of a stranger, and invited
back to their hills the long- absent and ruined chief,
whom they regarded as their own.
Lord Lovat now found means to represent to the
English Government, that if he could have a passport
to go into the Highlands, he might be instrumental in
quelling the rebellion. The Ministry, in their per-
plexities, availed themselves of his aid, and a pass was
granted to him, under the name of Captain Brown.
He once more set out for his own country, and
reached Edinburgh in safety, attended only by his
kinsman, Major Eraser. From Edinburgh he resolved
to proceed in a ship when he could procure one, for
the country was all in commotion. Meantime he took
up his abode, still maintaining his disguise, in the
Grass Market.
His real name was soon discovered, and informa-
tion was given to the Lord Justice Clerk, who granted
* Smollet, p. xi. Patten's History of the Rebellion, p. 2.
u 2
292 SIMON FRASER,
a warrant for his apprehension, as a person " out-
lawed and intercommuned ;" and to prevent any diffi-
culty in apprehending the prisoner, a party of the
town guard was ordered to escort the peace officers
to the lodgings of Lord Lovat.
The officer who had the command of the town guard
happened, however, to be acquainted with Lovat, and
he interposed his aid on this occasion. He listened
to the account which Lovat gave of the business which
had brought him to Edinburgh. The Provost was next
gained over to the opinion, that it would be wrong to
oppose any obstruction to one who had his Majesty's
passport : he ordered Lord Lovat to be set at liberty ;
and in order to give some colour of justice to this act,
he declared that the information must have been
wrong, it being laid against Captain Fraser, whereas,
the person taken appeared to be Captain Brown.
Lovat was once more in safety : he changed his lodg-
ings, however ; and, as soon as possible, set sail for In-
verness. Again danger, in another form, retarded his
arrival among his clan. A storm arose, the ship was
obliged to put into the nearest harbour, and Lord
Lovat was driven into Fraserburgh, which happened
to be within a few miles of the abode of his old enemy
and rival Lord Saltoun.
Mr. Forbes, one of the Culloden family, was now
fortunately for Lord Lovat, with him on his Majesty's
service. After some consultation together, he and
Lovat decided to make themselves known to Mr. Bail-
lie, town-clerk of Fraserburgh : they did so, were
LORD LOVAT. 293
kindly received, and provided with horses to convey
them to Culloden House, the seat of the future Lord
President of Scotland, Duncan Forbes. Here they
arrived in November, after incurring great risks from
the Jacobite troops, who were patroling in parties
over the country.*
Culloden House, famed in history, was inhabited by
a race whose views, conduct, and personal character
present a singular contrast, with those of Lord Lovat,
or with those of other adventurers in political life.
The head of the family was, at the period of the first
insurrection, John Forbes, a worthy representative of
an honourable, consistent, and spirited family. The
younger brother of John Forbes was the celebrated
Duncan Forbes, a man whose toleration of Lord Lovat,
not to say countenance of that compound of violence
and duplicity, seems to be the only incomprehensible
portion of his lofty and beautiful character.
" Duncan Forbes was born/' observes a modern
writer, " of parents who transmitted their estate to his
elder brother, and to all their children an hereditary
aversion to the house of Stuart, which they appear to
have resisted from the very commencement of the
civil wars, and upon the true grounds on which that
resistance ought to have been made."f By a singular
fortune the hereditary estates of Culloden and Ferin-
tosh had been ravaged, the year after the Revolution,
* Arbuthnot, p. 210.
^Edinburgh Review, No. li. art. Culloden Papers, 1826. This arti-
cle is attributed to the Honourable Lord Cockburn.
294 SIMON ERASER,
by the soldiers of Buchan and Cannon, on account of
the Jacobite principles of the owners. A liberal com-
pensation was made in the form of a perpetual grant
of a liberty to distil into spirits the grain of the
Barony of Ferintosh, a name which has become
almost as famous as that of Culloden. It was the
subsequent fate of Culloden to witness on its Moors
the total destruction of that cause which its owners
had so long resisted and deprecated.
Duncan Forbes, who, during a course of many years,
was bound by an inexplicable alliance with Lovat,
was at this period about thirty years of age. He
had already attained the highest reputation for elo-
quence, assiduity, and learning at the Scottish bar,
and during his frequent opportunities for display
before the House of Lords. But it was his personal
character, during a period of vacillating principles, and
almost of disturbed national reason, which obtained
that singular and benignant influence over his fellow-
countrymen for which the life of Duncan Forbes is
far more remarkable, far more admirable, than for the
exercise of his brilliant and varied talents. He had
" raised himself," observes the same discriminating
commentator on his life and correspondence, " to the
high station which he afterwards held by the un-
assisted excellence of a noble character, by the force
of which he had previously won and adorned all the
subordinate gradations of office."* He adorned this
* See Introduction to the Culloden Papers,
LORD LOVAT. 295
unenvied and unsullied pinnacle of fame byi virtues
of which the record is ennobling to the mind. " He
is," observes another writer, " in every situation, so
full of honour, of gentleness, of kindness, and intre-
pidity, that we doubt if there be any one public
man in this part of the empire, or of the age that
is gone, whose qualities ought to be so strongly re-
commended to the contemplation of all those who
wish to serve their country."
It was in such society as this that Lord Lovat, by a
rare fortune, was brought, after his long and disgrace-
ful exile. It was to such a home of virtue, of in-
telligence, of the purest and best affections, that he
was introduced after a long course of contamination
in the lowest scenes of French corruption, which had
succeeded an equally demoralising initiation into the
less graceful vices of the Court of George the First.
The inestimable privilege came too late in one sense.
Lord Lovat had gained nothing but wariness by the
lapse of years ; but the benefit to his worldly condi-
tion was considerable.
From this time until a few years before the insur-
rection of 1745, Lord Lovat may be regarded as a
jealous partisan of the house of Hanover. No doubt,
a general survey of the state of society in Scotland
would, independent of his own personal views, have
satisfied him that in such a course was the only
chance of permanent safety. The wretchedness of
the state of things at that period, can scarcely be
296 SIMON FRASER,
adequately comprehended by those who live in times
when liberty of opinion is universally an understood
condition of civilized intercourse.
It is difficult for any person who lives now to
carry himself back, by reading or conversation, into
the prospects or feelings of the people of Scotland
about a hundred years ago. The religious persecu-
tions of the Stuarts had given a darker hue to the old
austerity of their Calvinism. The expectation of
change constantly held out by that family divided
the nation into two parties, differing on a point which
necessarily made each of them rebels in the eyes of
the other ; and thus the whole kingdom was racked
by jealousies, heart-burnings, and suspicions. The re-
moval, by the Union, of all the patronage and show of
royalty, spread a gloom and discontent, not only over
the lower, but over the higher ranks. The commence-
ment of a strict system of general taxation was new,
while the miserable poverty of the country rendered it
unproductive and unpopular. The great families still
lorded it over their dependants, and exercised legal
jurisdiction within their own domains ; by which the
general police of the kingdom was crippled, and the
grossest legal oppression practised. The remedy
adopted for all these evils, which was to abate nothing
and to enforce everything under the direction of Eng-
lish counsels or of English men, completed the national
wretchedness, and infused its bitterest ingredient into
the brim full cup.
The events of the year 1715 present but a feeble
LORD LOVAT. 297
exemplification of the truth of this description com-
pared with the annals of 1745, for the first Rebel-
lion was, happily, soon closed.
Lord Lovat did not hesitate long on which side he
should enlist himself; and the intelligence that his
rival, Mackenzie of Fraserdale, had taken up arms in
favour of the Chevalier, decided his course. 45 " On the
fifth of November he assembled all those of his clan
who were still faithful to him, and who had been
warned of his approach by his friends. He was
received among them with exclamations of joy ; and,
hearing that a body of Mackintoshes, a Jacobite clan,
were marching to reinforce Sir John Mackenzie, who
commanded the castle at Inverness, he marched for-
ward with his adherents to intercept them, and to
prevent their joining what he then called " the rebel
garrison."
The citadel of Inverness, built in 1657 by Oliver
Cromwell, and called Oliver's Fort, stood on the east
bank of the river Ness, and was a regular pentagon,
with bastions, ramparts, and a moat ; the standard of
the Protectorate, with the word " Emmanuel" inscribed
upon it, had formerly been displayed upon its ram-
parts. It was calculated to hold two thousand men,
and was washed on one side by the river. As a
fortress it had many inconveniencies ; approaches
to it were easy, and the town afforded a quarter for
an enemy's army. In 1662 it had been partly
dismantled by Charles the Second, because it was
* Arbuthnot, p. 2] 1 .
298 SIMON FRASER,
the relic of usurpation, and constituted a check
upon the adjacent Highlanders, who were then con-
sidered loyal.* It is said by one who saw it after
the Restoration to have been a very superb work,
and it was one of the regular places for the deposition
of arms at the time of the Rebellion of 1715. Sub-
sequently it was much augmented and enlarged, and
bore, until its destruction after the battle of Culloden,
the name of Fort George, an appellation now trans-
ferred to its modern successor on the promontory
of Ardesseil.
It was against this important fortress that Lord
Lovat now marched with as much zeal and intre-
pidity as if he had been fighting in the cause of
that family for whom his ancestors had suffered. He
proceeded straight to Inverness, and placing himself
on the west side of the town despatched a party of
troops to prevent any supply of arms or provisions
from approaching the castle by the Firth. Forbes
of Culloden lay to the east, and the Grants, to the
number of eight hundred, to the south side of the town.
Sir John Mackenzie finding himself thus invested
on all sides, took advantage of a spring tide that came
up to the town and made the river navigable, to es-
cape with all his troops ; and Lord Lovat immediately
gained possession of the citadel. The fame of this
inglorious triumph has, however, been divided between
Lovat and Hugh Rose of Kilravock,f whose brother,
in pursuing the Jacobite guard to the Tolbooth, was
* Shaw's Hist, of Moray, p. 252. t Ibid.
LORD LOVAT. 299
shot through the bod y. But whoever really deserved
the laurel, Lord Lovat profited largely by his dis-
honest exertions in a cause which he began life by
disliking, and ended by abjuring.
On the thirteenth of November Lord Lovat was
joined by the Earl of Sutherland ; and, leaving a garri-
son in Inverness, the two noblemen marched into the
territory of the Earl of Seaforth, where they intimi-
dated the natives into submission. Lord Lovat also
despatched a friend to Perth, where the main portion
of the Jacobite army lay, to claim the submission of
his clansmen, who were led by his rival, Mackenzie
of Fraserdale. They complied with his summons to
the number of four hundred, and Lovat, after entering
Murray and Strathspey, and exacting obedience to
the King's troops in these districts, prepared to attack
Lord Seaforth, who was threatening to invest Inver-
ness. But Duncan Forbes, who was then serving with
the army, restrained the ardour of his neighbour, and
hostilities were terminated in the North without
further bloodshed/' 5 "
Lord Lovat was quickly repaid for his exertions.
From George the First he received three letters of
thanks, and an invitation to go to Court ; and in
March, 1716, a remission of the sentence of death
which had been passed upon him, received the royal
signature. He was appointed governor of Inverness,
with a free company of Highlanders. What, per-
haps, still more gratified his natural thirst for ven-
* Anderson, p. 141.
300 SIMON FRASER,
geance was the fate, of his rival, the husband of
Amelia Lovat, Mackenzie of Fraserdale, who was
attainted of high treason, and whose life -interest in
the lands and barony of Lovat were forfeited and
escheated to the Crown. To complete the good for-
tune of Lovat, the King was graciously pleased, in
June, 1716, to make him a present of the forfeited
lands ; and Lovat immediately took possession of
the estate, and entered his claim to the honours
and dignities which were appended to the lands.*
It was now that he added another motto to the
arms of the Erasers, and struck out the quarter-
ings of the Bisset family, which had been made a
plea for his adversary. The ancient Frasers, or
Frizells, had for their motto " Je suis prest" to
which this honour to their house now added the
words, " Sine sanguine victor" denoting that he had
come peaceably to the estate, f
He was now the undisputed Lord Lovat ; hitherto
he had borne, generally, the convenient name of
Captain Fraser, given to him in his military capacity ;
and it appears, in spite of all his boastings, that he
had scarcely been called by any other title at the
French Court than that of Fraser of Beaufort. He
had now an admirable opportunity of obliterating
the remembrance of his past life, and of conciliating
good opinion by the consistency and regulation of
his present conduct. Notwithstanding his crimes
his clansmen turned towards him gladly ; his neigh-
* Arbuthnot, p. 218. t Shaw, p. 186.
LORD LOVAT. 301
bours were willing to assist him in the support of
his honours, and he enjoyed what he had never before
experienced, the confidence of his Sovereign.
Lord Lovat began his season of prosperity by
litigations, which lasted between twelve and four-
teen years. His first aim was to set aside the
pretensions of Hugh Fraser, the son of Mackenzie
of Fraserdale, who claimed the title of Lord Lovat
after his father's death ; and also, by virtue of set-
tlements, asserted rights to the estate. The contest
was finally decided by the House of Lords in favour
of Lord Lovat's enjoying the honours and lands during
his life, the fee remaining with Fraserdale, who died
in 1755.
Vexatious and expensive suits occupied the period
between 1715 and 1732, when they were brought to a
final conclusion.
Lovat now assumed a state corresponding to his sta-
tion, and suitable to the turn of his mind for display.
Not only the lands, heritages, tenements, annual rents,
&c., of the unfortunate Mackenzie of Fraserdale were
bestowed on him for his services in suppressing what
in the deed of gift was termed "the late unnatural
rebellion in the north of Scotland ;" but also the
" goods, jewels, gear, utensils and domecitts, horses,
sheep, cattle, corn, and, in short, whatsoever had be-
longed to the Mackenzies, together with five hundred
pounds of money, which had fallen into the King's
hands. It was, indeed, some time before all this
could be accomplished, as the correspondence between
302 SIMON FRASER,
Lord Lovat and his friend Duncan Forbes sufficiently
shows.
" Inverness, the 5th March, 1716.
" MY DEAREST GENERAL,*
" I send you the inclosed letter from the name of
Macleod, which I hope you will make good use of; for
it's most certain, I keep'd the M'Leods at home, which
was considerable service done to the Government. The
Earle went off from Cullodin to Cromarty last night ;
and tho' he got a kind letter from Marlbrugh, congra-
tulating him on his glorious actions, yet he was ob-
liged to own to General Wightman, that his Lordship
would have got nothing done in the North without my
dear General and me. I wish he may do us the same
justice at Court : if not, I am sure, if I live, I will in-
form the King in person of all that passed here since the
Rebellion. The Earle's creatures openly speak of the
Duke of Argyle's being recalled. I could not bear it.
You know my too great vivacity on that head. I was
really sick with it, and could not sleep well since. I
expect impatiently a letter from you to determinal
my going to London, or my stay here, where I am very
well with General Wightman, but always much morti-
fied to see myself the servant of all, without a post or
character. I go to-morrow to Castle Grant to take my
leave of my dear Alister Dow. Your brother is to
* Such was the style in which Lovat, to be complimentary, usually
addressed Duncan Forbes, on account of the military capacity in which
the future Lord President had acted during the Rebellion.
LORD LOVAT. 303
follow and to go with Alister to London this week. I
find the Duke was gone before you could be at London.
I hope, my dear General, you will take a start to
London to serve his Grace, and do something for your
poor old corporal ; and, if you suffer Glengarry, Frazer-
dale, or the Chisholm, to be pardoned, I will never
carry a musquet any more under your command,
though I should be obliged to go to Affrick. However,
you know how obedient I am to my General's orders.
You forgot to give the order, signed by you and the
other depicts, to meddle with Frazerdale's estate for
the King's service. I intreat you send it me, for
is afraid to meddle without authority, Adieu, mon
aimable General ; vous savez que je vous aime tendre-
ment ; et que je suis mille fois plus a vous qu'a moy-
meme pour la vie. " LOVAT."
In another letter, he observes" The King has been
pleased, this very day, to give me a gift of all Eraser-
dale's escheat/' Still, however, one thing was wanting;
the rapacious Lovat had not obtained his former
enemy's plate ; General Wightman had taken possession
of it as from the person with whom it was deposited ;
and he was celebrated for his unwillingness to part
with what he had gained. At last, however, the gree-
diness of Lovat was appeased if not satisfied by a pre-
sent from General Cadogan of the plate which he had
taken, belonging to Fraserdale ; and by a compromise
with General Wightman, Lovat paying the General one-
half of the value of the plate which was worth only
304 SIMON FRASER,
one hundred and fifty pounds. Thus were the remains
of the unhappy Jacobites parcelled out among these
military plunderers.
During this year, the avocations of Lord Lovat's tur-
bulent leisure were pleasingly varied by the cares of a
love suit. The young lady who was persuaded to link
her fate to his, was Margaret, the fourth daughter of
Ludovick Grant, of Grant ; she is said to have been
young and beautiful. But several obstacles retarded
for awhile her union with Lord Lovat. In the first
place, he was not wholly unmarried to the Dowager of
Lovat, who was still alive. The family of Athole had,
it is true, annulled that marriage, yet there were still
legal doubts and difficulties in the way of a fresh bond.
Lord Lovat was now, however, according to his own
report to his "dearest General" at Culloden, in high
favour with King George and' the Prince of Wales ;
and to them he broached the subject of his marriage.
" I had a private audience of King George this day ;
and I can tell you, dear General, that no man ever
spoke freer language to his Majesty or to the Prince
than I did/' " They still behave to me like kind bro-
thers ; and I spoke to them both of my marriage, they
approve of it mightily, and my Lord Islay brother of
the Duke [of Argyle], is to make the proposition to
the King ; and, so that I believe it will do, with that
agreement that my two great friends wish and desire
it."*
He could, however, do nothing except in a sinister
* Culloden Papers, p. 55.
LORD LOVAT. 305
manner ; nor was there ever one motive which sprang
from a right source. Again he thus addresses Duncan
Forbes :
" I spoke to the Duke and mj Lord May about my
marriage, and told them that one of my greatest motifs-
to that design, was to secure them the joint interest
of the North." This must have been a pleasing consi-
deration for the young lady, but that which follows
is scarcely less promising and agreeable.
" They [the Duke and Lord Islay] are both to
speak of it to the King ; but Islay desired me to write
to you, to know if there would be any fear of a poursuit
of adherence from that other person [the Dowager
Lady Lovat], which is a chimirical business, and ten-
der fear for me in my dear Islay. But when I told
him that the lady denyed, before the Justice Court,
that I had anything to do with her, and that the pre-
tended marriage is declared nul (which Islay says
should be done by the Commissary s only), yet, when
I told him that the witnesses were all dead who were
at the pretended marriage, he was satisfyed that they
could make nothing of it, though they would endea-
vour it." *
This letter, which shows in too clear colours how
unscrupulous even men of reputed honour, such as
Lord Islay, were on some points in those days, seems
to have removed all obstacles ; and, during the follow-
ing year (1717), Lord Lovat was united to Margaret
Grant. Her father was the head of a numerous and
* Culloden Papers, p. 56.
VOL. II. X
306 SIMON FRASER,
powerful clan, and this marriage tended greatly to
increase the influence of Lord Lovat among the High-
landers. Two children, a son and a daughter, were the
result of this union. Prosperity once more shone upon
the chieftain of the Frasers ; and he now restored to his
home, Castle Downie, all the baronial state which must
so well have accorded with that ancient structure.
The famous Sergeant Macleod, in his Memoirs, gives a
graphic account of his reception at Castle Downie by
Lord Lovat, where the old soldier repaired to seek a
commission in the celebrated Highland company, after-
wards called the Highland Watch.*
" At three o'clock/' says the biographer of Macleod,f
" on a summer's morning, he set out on foot from Edin-
burgh ; and about the same hour, on the second day
thereafter, he stood on the green of Castle Downie,
Lord Lovat's residence, about five or six miles beyond
Inverness ; having performed in forty-eight hours a
journey of a hundred miles and upwards, and the
greater part of it through a mountainous country. His
sustenance on this march was bread and cheese, with
an onion, all which he carried in his pocket, and a
dram of whiskey at each of the three great stages on
the road, and at Falkland, the half-way house between
* Sergeant Macleod served in 1703, when only thirteen years of age,
in the Scots Royals, afterwards under Marlborough, then at the battle
of Sherriff Muir in 1715. After a variety of campaigns he was wounded
in the battle of Quebec, in 1759, and came home in the same ship that
brought General Wolf's body to England. Macleod died in Chelsea
Hospital at the age of one hundred and three. His Memoirs are inter-
esting.
t Memoirs of the Life of $ergeant Donald Macleod, p. 45. London,
1791.
LORD LOVAT. 307
Edinburgh, by the way of Kinghorn and Perth. He
never went to bed during the whole of this journey ;
though he slept once or twice for an hour or two
together, in the open air, on the road side.
" By the time he arrived at Lord Lovat's park the
sun had risen upwards of an hour, and shone plea-
santly, according to the remark of our hero, well
pleased to find himself in this spot, on the walls of
Castle Downie, and those of the ancient abbey of
Beaulieu in the near neighbourhood. Between the
hours of five and six Lord Lovat appeared walking
about in his hall, in a morning dress, and at the
same time a servant flung open the great folding doors,
and all the outer doors and windows of the house. It
is about this time that many of the great families of
the present day go to bed.
" As Macleod walked up and down on the lawn
before the house, he was soon observed by Lord Lovat
who immediately went out, and, bowing to the Sergeant
with great courtesy, invited him to come in. Lovat
was a fine-looking tall man, and had something very
insinuating in his manners and address. He lived
in the fullness of hospitality, being more solicitous,
according to the genius of the feudal times, to retain and
multiply adherents than to accumulate wealth by the
improvement of his estate. As scarcely any fortune,
and certainly not his fortune, was adequate to the
extent of his views, he was obliged to regulate his
unbounded hospitality by rules of prudent economy.
As his spacious hall was crowded by kindred visitors,
x 2
308 SIMON FRASER,
neighbours, vassals, and tenants of all ranks, the table,
that extended from one end of it nearly to the other,
was covered at different places with different kinds of
meat and drink though of each kind there was
always great abundance. At the head of the table the
lords and lairds pledged his Lordship in claret, and
sometimes champagne ; the tacksmen, or demiwassals,
drank port or whiskey-punch ; tenants, or common
husbandmen, refreshed themselves with strong beer ;
and below the utmost extent of the table, at the door,
and sometimes without the door of the hall, you might
see a multitude of Frasers, without shoes or bonnets,
regaling themselves with bread and onions, with a
little cheese, perhaps, and small beer. Yet amidst the
whole of the aristocratic inequality, Lord Lovat had
the address to keep all his guests in perfectly good
humour. * Cousin,' he would say to such and such a
tacksmen or demiwassal, ' I told my pantry lads to
hand you some claret, but they tell me you like port or
punch best/ In like manner to the beer drinkers he
would say, ' Gentlemen, there is what you please at
your service ; but I send you ale because I under-
stand you like ale/ Everybody was thus well pleased ;
and none were so ill bred as to gainsay what had been
reported to his Lordship.
This introduction was followed by still further con-
descension on the part of Lord Lovat. He looked at
the veteran who had served in Lord Orkney's regiment^
under Marlborough, at Eamilies and Malplaquet, with
approbation.
" * I know,' said his Lordship, ' without your telling
LORD LOVAT. 309
me, that you have conie to enlist in the Highland Watch ;
for a thousand men like you I would give an estate/
Donald Macleod then, at Lovat's request, related his
history and pedigree, that subject which most delights
the heart of a Highlander. Lord Lovat clasped him in
his arms, and kissed him, and then led him into an
adjoining bedchamber, where Lady Lovat then lay, to
whom he introduced the Sergeant. Lady Lovat raised
herself in her bed, called for a bottle of brandy, and
drank prosperity to Lord Lovat, to the Highland
Watch, and to Donald Macleod. t It is superfluous to
say,' adds the Sergeant, ' that in this toast the lady
was pledged by the gentlemen/ '
In contradiction to this attractive account of Lord
Lovat's splendour and hospitality we must quote a
very different description, given by the astronomer Fer-
guson. Lord Lovat's abode, according to his account,
boasted, indeed, a numerous feudal retinue within its
walls, but presented little or no comfort. It was a
rude tower with only four apartments in it, and none
of these spacious. Lord Lovat's own room served at
once as his place for constant residence, his room for
receiving company, and his bedchamber. Lady Lovat's
bedchamber was allotted to her for all these purposes
also. The domestics and a herd of retainers were
lodged in the four lower rooms of the tower, a quantity
of straw constituting their bed-furniture. Sometimes
above four hundred persons were thus huddled to-
gether here ; the power which their savage and un-
grateful chieftain exercised over them was despotic ;
and Ferguson himself had occasionally the pleasurable
310 SIMON ERASER,
sight of some half dozen of them hung up by the
heels for hours, on a few trees near the house/""
The pretended loyalty of the chief to the exiled
family constituted a strong bond of union between
Lovat and his followers ; and having them once under
his command, " that indefinable magic by which he all
his life swayed those who neither loved nor esteemed
him," to borrow Mrs. Grant's expression, caused them
afterwards to follow his desperate fortunes. " He re-
sembled, in this respect," says the same admirable writer,
" David when in the cave of Adullam, for every one that
was discontented, and every one that was in debt,
literally resorted to him." Lovat, once settled in the
abode of his ancestors, did all that he could do to
efface the memory of the past, and to redeem the
good opinion of his neighbours. One thing he alone
left undone, he did not amend his life. Crafty,
vindictive, gross, tyrannical, few men ever continued
long such a career with impunity.
He was long distrusted by the good of both parties ;
by the one he was regarded as a spy of Government,
by the other as one whose Jacobite loyalty was only a
pretext to win the affections of the honest and simple
Highlanders. Yet, at last, he succeeded in obtaining
influence, partly by his real talents, partly by his
artifices and knowledge of character. " When one
considers," observes Mrs. Grant, " that his appearance
was disgusting and repulsive, his manners, except
when he had some deep part to play, grossly familiar,
and meanly cajoling, and that he was not only stained
* Anderson. From King's Monumenta Antiqua,
LORD LOVAT. 311
with crimes, but well known to possess no one amiable
quality but fortitude, which he certainly displayed in
the last extremity, his influence over others is to be
regarded as inexplicable." Although the most valuable
possessions of his family were on the Aird, the chief
centre of his popularity was in Stratheric, a wild hilly
district between Inverness and Fort Augustus. There
he was beloved by the common people, who looked
upon him as a patriot, and there he made it his chief
study to secure their affections, often going unlocked
for to spend the day and night with his tenants there,
and banishing reserve, he indulged in a peculiar strain
of jocularity perfectly suited to his audience. His
conversation, composed of ludicrous fancies and bland-
ishments, was often intermingled with sound practical
advice and displays of good sense. The following curious
account of his table deportment, and ordinary mode of
living, is from the pen of Mrs. Grant of -fjaggan, who
was well acquainted with those who had personally
known Lord Lovat.
" If he met a boy on the road, he was sure to ask
whom he belonged to, and tell him of his consequence
and felicity in belonging to the memorable clan of
Fraser, and if he said his name was Simon to give
him half-a-crown, at that time no small gift in
Stratheric ; but the old women, of all others, were
those he was at most pains to win, even in the
lowest ranks. He never was unprovided with snuff
and flattery, both which he dealt liberally among
them, listened patiently to their old stories, and told
them others of the King of France, and King James,
312 SIMON FRASER,
by which they were quite captivated, and concluded
by entreating that they impress their children with
attachment and duty to their chief, and they would not
fail to come to his funeral and assist in the coranach
Iceir. At Castle Downie he always kept an open
table to which all comers were welcome, for of all
his visitors he contrived to make some use ; from the
nobleman and general by whose interest he could
provide for some of his followers, and by that means
strengthen his interest with the rest, to the idle
hanger-on whose excursions might procure the fish
and game which he was barely suffered to eat a part
of at his patron's table. Never was there a mixture
of society so miscellaneous as was there assembled.
From an affectation of loyalty to his new masters
Lovat paid a great court to the military stationed
in the North ; such of the nobility in that quarter
as were not in the sunshine, received his advances
as from a man who enjoyed court favour, and he failed
not to bend to his own purposes every new con-
nection he formed. In the mean time the greatest
profusion appeared at table while the meanest par-
simony reigned through the household. The servants
who attended had little if any wages ; their reward
was to be recommended to better service afterwards ;
and meantime they had no other food allowed to
them but what they carried off on the plates : the
consequence was, that you durst not quit your knife
and fork for a moment, your plate was snatched while
you looked another way ; if you were not very dili-
gent, you might fare as ill amidst abundance as the
LORD LOVAT. 313
Governor of Barataria. A surly guest once cut the
fingers of one of these harpies when snatching his
favourite morsel away untasted. I have heard a
military gentleman who occasionally dined at Castle
Downie describe those extraordinary repasts. There
was a very long table loaded with a great variety of
dishes, some of the most luxurious, others of the
plainest nay, coarsest kind : these were very oddly
arranged ; at the head were all the dainties of the
season, well dressed and neatly sent in ; about the
middle appeared good substantial dishes, roasted mut-
ton, plain- pudding and such like. At the bottom
coarse pieces of beef, sheeps' heads, haggiss, and other
national but inelegant dishes, were served in a slo-
venly manner in great pewter platters ; at the head
of the table were placed guests of distinction, to
whom alone the dainties were offered ; the middle was
occupied by gentlemen of his own tribe, who well
knew their allotment, and were satisfied with the
share assigned to them. At the foot of the table
sat hungry retainers, the younger sons of younger
brothers, who had at some remote period branched
out from the family ; for which reason he always
addressed them by the title of ' cousin/ This, and
a place, however low, at his table, so flattered these
hopeless hangers-on, that they were as ready to do
Lovat's bidding " in the earth or in the air" as the
spirits are to obey the command of Prospero."
" The contents of his sideboard were as oddly assorted
as those of his table, and served the same purpose. He
began, * My lord, here is excellent venison, here
314 SIMON FRASER,
turbot, &c. : call for any wine you please ; there is
excellent claret and champagne on the sideboard.
Pray, now, Dunballock or Killbockie, help yourselves
to what is before you ; there are port and lisbon,
strong ale and porter, excellent in their kind ;' then
calling to the other end of the table, ' Pray, dear
cousin, help yourself and my other cousins to that
fine beef and cabbage ; there is whiskey-punch and
excellent table-beer.' His conversation, like his table,
was varied to suit the character of every guest. The
retainers soon retired, and Lovat (on whom drink
made no impression) found means to unlock every
other mind, and keep his own designs impenetrably
secret ; while the ludicrous and careless air of his
discourse helped to put people off their guard; and
searchless cunning and boundless ambition were hid
under the mask of careless hilarity."
But darker deeds even than these diversified the
pursuits of a man who had quitted the prisons of
Angouleme and of Saumur only to wreak, upon his
own faithful and trusting clansmen, or his neighbours,
as well as his foes, the vindictive cruelty of a nature
utterly depraved, not softened even by kindness, still
less chastened by a long series of misfortunes.
Lovat's re-establishment at the head of his clan
seems to have intoxicated him, and the display of his
power to have risen into a ruling passion. Above all,
he boasted of it to Duncan Forbes, whose endurance
of this wretched ally's correspondence lasted until the
pretended friendship was succeeded by avowed trea-
chery to the Government to which he had professed
LORD LOVAT. 315
such gratitude, and to the King and Prince whom he
-was wont to call " the bravest fellows in the world." *
In accordance with this spirit of self-glorification
was Lovat's erection of two monuments, filial piety
dictating the inscription on one of them, that dedicated
to his father, and his own audacious vanity assisting
in the composition of the tribute to his own virtues.
It was his Lordship's favourite boast that at his birth
a number of swords which hung up in the hall of his
paternal home leaped themselves out of their scab-
bards, denoting that he was to be a mighty man of
arms. The presage was not fulfilled, but Lord Lovat's
ingenuity suggested the following means of imposing
upon the credulity of his simple clansmen, by the
composition of an epitaph which he erected in the old
church of Kirkhill, a few miles from Castle Downie.
TO THE MEMORY OF
THOMAS LORD FRASER, OF LOVAT,
Who chose rather to undergo the greatest hardships of fortune than to
part with the ancient honours of his house, and bore these hardships with
undaunted fortitude of mind.
This monument was erected by
SIMON LORD FRASER OF LOVAT, HIS SON.
Who, likewise, having undergone many and great vicissitudes of good
and bad fortune, through the malice of his enemies, he, in the end, at the
head of his clan, forced his way to his paternal inheritance with his sword
in his hand, and relieved his kindred and followers from oppression and
slavery ; and both at home and in foreign countries, by his eminent
actions in the war and the state, he has acquired great honours and
reputation.
Hie tegit ossa lapis Simonis fortis in armis,
Restituit pressum nam genus ille suum :
Hoc marmor posuit cari genitoris honori,
In genus afflictum par erat ejus amor.
* Culloden Papers.
316 SIMON FRASER,
Sir Robert Munro, who was killed at the battle of
Falkirk, being on a visit to Lord Lovat, went with his
host to see this monument. " Simon," said the brave
and free-spoken Scotsman, " how the devil came you
to put up such boasting romantic stuff"?" " The
monument and inscription," replied Lovat, " are chiefly
for the Frasers, who must believe whatever I require,
their chief, of them, and then posterity will think it as
true as the Gospel." Yet he did not scruple, when
it suited his purpose, to designate his clansmen, the
lairds around him, as " the little pitiful barons of
the Aird;" this was, however, when writing to his
friends of opposite politics to the Frasers, generally
to Duncan Forbes.
The devotion of his unfortunate adherents can
hardly be conceived in the present day. In the early
part of his career, before his rapacity, his licentious-
ness, and falsehood were fully known, one may imagine
a fearless and ardent young leader, of known bravery,
engaging the passions even of the most wary among
his followers in his personal quarrels : but it is won-
derful how, when the character of the man stood
revealed before them, any could be found to lend their
aid to deeds which had not the colour of justice, nor
even the pretence of a generous ardour, to recommend
them to the brave. But Lovat was not the only
melancholy instance in which that extraordinary
feature in the Highland character, loyalty to a chief-
tain, was employed in aiding the darkest treachery,
and in deeds of violence and cruelty.
LORD LOVAT. 317
For many years, Lovat revelled in the indulgence of
the fiercest passions ; but he paid in time the usual
penalty of guilt. His name came to be a bye-word.
Every act of violence, done in the darkness of night,
the oppressions of the helpless, the corruption of
the innocent, every plot which was based upon the
lowest principles, were attributed to him. His ven-
geance was such, that while the public knew the hand
that dealt out destruction, they dared not to name the
man. The hated word was whispered by the hearth ;
it was muttered with curses in the hovel ; but the
voice which breathed it was hushed when the band of
numerous retainers, swift to execute the will of the
feudal tyrant, was remembered. His power, thus
tremblingly acknowledged, was fearful; his wrath,
never was appeased except by the ruin of those who
had offended him. With all this, the manners of Lord
Lovat were courteous, and, for the times, polished; whilst
beneath that superficial varnish lay the coarsest thoughts,
the most degrading tastes. His address must have been
consummate ; and to that charm of manner may be
ascribed the wonderful ascendancy which he acquired
even over the respectable part of the community.
Something of his ready humour was displayed soon
after Lord Lovat's restoration to his title, in his ren-
contre with his early friend, Lord Mungo Murray, in
the streets of Edinburgh. Lord Mungo had sworn to
avenge the wrongs and insults inflicted by Lord Lovat
on himself and Lord Saltoun, whenever he had an op-
portunity. Seeing Lord Lovat approaching, he drew
318 SIMON FRASER,
his sword and made towards him as fast as he could.
Lord Lovat, being near-sighted, did not perceive him,
but was apprised of his danger by a friend who was
walking with him ; upon which his Lordship also drew,
and prepared for his defence. Lord Mungo, seeing
this, thought proper to decline the engagement, and
wheeled round in order to retire. The people crowded
about the parties, and somewhat impeded Lord Mungo's
retreat ; upon which Lord Lovat called out to the
people, " Pray, gentlemen, make room for Lord Mungo
Murray," Lord Mungo slank away, and the affair ended
without bloodshed.
An affair with the profligate Duke of Wharton, was
very near ending more fatally. Lord Lovat, during
the year 1724, happening to be in London, mingled
there in the fashionable society for which his long
residence in France had, in some measure, qualified
him. In the course of his different amusements, he
encountered one evening, at the Haymarket, the beau-
tiful Dona Eleanora Sperria, a Spanish lady who had
visited England under the character of the Ambassa-
dor's niece. His attentions to this lady, and his admi-
ration of her attractions, were observed by the jealous
eye of the Duke of Wharton, who immediately sent
him a challenge. Lord Lovat accepted it, replying,
that " none of the family of Lovat were ever cowards/'
and appointing to meet the Duke with sword and
pistol. The encounter took place in Hyde-park. They
first fired at each other, and then had recourse to the
usual weapon, the sword. Lovat was unlucky enough
LORD LOVAT. 319
to fall over the stump of a tree, and was disarmed by
Wharton, who gave him his life, and what was in those
days perhaps even still more generous, never boasted
of the affair until some years afterwards.
Lovat lived, however, chiefly in Scotland. Four
children were born to writhe under his sway ; the
eldest, Simon, the Master of Lovat, gentle, sincere, of
promising abilities, and upright in conduct, suffered
early and late from the jealousy of his father, who could
not comprehend his mild virtues. This unfortunate
young man was treated with the utmost harshness by
Lord Lovat, who kept him in slavish subjection to his
own imperious will, and treated him as if he had been
the offspring of some low-born dependant, instead of
his heir. Still, those who were well-wishers to the
Lovat family, built their hopes upon the virtues of the
young Master of Lovat, and they were not deceived.
Although forced by his father to quit the University of
St. Andrews, where he was studying in 1 745, and to
enter into the Eebellion, he retrieved that early act
by a subsequent respectability of life, and by long and
faithful services.
But there was another victim still more to be pitied,
and over whose destiny the vices of Lord Lovat exer-
cised a still more fatal sway than on those of his son.
The story of Primrose Campbell is, perhaps, the sad-
dest among this catalogue of crimes and calamities.
She was the daughter of John Campbell, of Mamore,
and the sister of John Duke of Argyle, the friend and
patron of Duncan Forbes ; and she had been, by Lovat's
320 SIMON FRASER,
introduction, for some time a companion of his first
wife.* Lord Lovat, about the year 1732, became a
widower. He then cast his eyes upon the ill-fated
Miss Campbell, and sought her in marriage. The
match was of great importance to him, on account of
the family connection ; and Lord Lovat had reason
to belieVe, that whatever the young lady might think
of it, her friends were not opposed to the union. She
was staying with her sister, Lady Roseberry, when
Lovat proffered his odious addresses. She to whom
they were addressed, knew him well : for she enter-
tained the utmost abhorrence of her suitor, and repeat-
edly rejected his proposals. At last, he gained her
consent to the union which he sought, by the fol-
lowing stratagem. Miss Campbell, while residing still
with her sister in the country, received a letter, written
apparently by her mother, and, beseeching her imme-
diate attendance at a particular house in Edinburgh,
in which she lay at the point of death. The young lady
instantly set out, and reached the appointed place :
here, instead of beholding her mother, she was received
by the hated and dreaded Lovat.f She was con-
strained to listen to his proffers of marriage ; but she
still firmly refused her assent. Upon this, Lord Lovat
told the unhappy creature that the house to which she
had been brought was one in which no respectable
woman ought ever to enter ; and he threatened to
blast her character upon her continued refusal to be-
come his wife. Distracted, intimidated by a confine-
* Mrs. Grant's MS. f Anderson, p. 159. From family archives.
LORD LOVAT. 321
ment of several days, the young lady finally consented.
She was married to the tyrant, who conveyed her to
one of his castles in the North, probably to Downie,
the scene of his previous crimes. Here she was
secluded in a lonely tower, and treated with the utmost
barbarity, probably because she could neither conceal
nor conquer her disgust to the husband of her forced
acceptance. Yet outward appearances were preserved :
a lady, the intimate friend of her youth, was advised
to visit, as if by accident, the unhappy Lady Lovat, in
order to ascertain the truth of the reports which pre-
vailed of Lord Lovat's cruelty. The visitor was re-
ceived by Lovat with extravagant expressions of wel-
come, and many assurances of the pleasure which it
would afford Lady Lovat to see her. His Lordship
then retired, and hastening to his wife, who was
secluded without even tolerable clothes, and almost in
a state of starvation, placed a costly dress before her,
and desired her to attire herself, and to appear before
her friend. His commands were obeyed ; he watched
his prisoner and her visitor so closely, that no informa-
tion could be conveyed of the unhappiness of the one,
or of the intentions of the other.* This outrageous
treatment, which Lord Lovat is reported, also, to
have exercised over his first wife, went on for some
time. Lady Lovat was daily locked up in a room by
herself, a scanty supply of food being sent her, which
she was obliged to devour in silence. The monotony
of her hapless solitude was only broken by rare visits
* Chambers's Traditions of Edinburgh.
VOL. II. Y
322 SIMON FRASER,
from his Lordship. Under these circumstances, she
bore a son, who was named Archibald Campbell Fraser,
and who eventually succeeded to the title. In after
years, when he frowned at any contradiction that she
gave him, Lady Lovat used to exclaim, ' Oh, boy !
Dinna look that gate ye look so like your father."
These words spoke volumes.
The character of the lady whose best years were
thus blighted by cruelty, and who was condemned
through a long life to bear the name of her infamous
husband, was one peculiarly Scotch. Homely in her
habits, and possessing little refinement of manner,
she had the kindest heart, the most generous and self-
denying nature that ever gladdened a house, or bore up
a woman's weakness under oppression. The eldest son
of Lord Lovat, Simon, was a sickly child. His father,
who was very anxious to have him to his house, placed
him under Lady Lovat's charge ; and, whenever he went
to the Highlands, left her with this pleasing intimation,
" that if he found either of the boys dead on his return,
he would shoot her through the head." Partly through
fear, and partly from the goodness and rectitude of her
mind, Lady Lovat devoted her attentions so entirely
to the care of the delicate and motherless boy, that she
saved his life, and won his filial reverence and affection
by her attention. He loved her as a real parent. The
skill in nursing and in the practical part of medicine
thus acquired, was never lost ; and Lady Lovat was
noted ever after, among those who knew her, as the
" old lady of the faculty."
LORD LOVAT. 323
Family archives, it is said, reveal a tissue of almost
unprecedented acts of cruelty towards this excellent
lady. They were borne with the same spirit that in
all her life guided her conduct, a strict dependance
upon Providence. She regarded her calamities as
trials, or tests, sent from Heaven, and received them
with meek submission. In after years, during the
peaceful decline of her honoured life, when a house
near her residence in Blackfriars Wynd, Edinburgh,
took fire, she sat calmly knitting a stocking, and
watching, occasionally, the progress of the flames. The
magistrates and ministers came, in vain, to entreat her
to leave her house in a sedan ; she refused, saying, that
if her hour was come, it was in vain for her to think
of eluding her fate : if it were not come, she was safe
where she was. At length she permitted the people
around her to fling wet blankets over the house, by
which it was protected from the sparks.
She seems, however, to have made considerable exer-
tions to rid herself from an unholy bond with her
husband. Like many other Scottish ladies of quality,
in those days, her education had been limited ; and it
was not until late in life that she acquired the art of
writing, which she then learned by herself without a
master. She never attained the more difficult process
of spelling accurately.
She now, however, contrived to make herself under-
stood by her friends in this her dire distress : and to
acquaint them with her situation and injuries, by
rolling a letter up in a clue of yarn, and dropping it
Y 2
324 SIMON FRASER,
out of her window to a confidential person below.
Her family then interfered, and the wretched lady was
released, by a legal separation, from her miseries. She
retired to the house of her sister, and eventually
to Edinburgh. When, in after times, her grand
nephews and nieces crowded around her, she would
talk to them of these days of sorrow. " Listen,
bairns/ 7 she was known to observe, " the events of my
life would make a good novel ; but they have been of
sae strange a nature, that I'm surenaebody wad believe
them/ 7 *
But domestic tyranny was a sphere of far too
limited a scope for Lord Lovat : his main object was
to make himself absolute over that territory of which
he was the feudal chieftain ; to bear down everything
before him, either by the arts of cunning, or through
intimidation. Some instances, singular, as giving
some insight into the state of society in the High-
lands at that period, have been recorded. f Very few
years after the restitution of his family honours had
elapsed, before he happened to have some misunder-
standing with one of the Dowager Lady Lovat's agents,
a Mr. Robertson, whom her Ladyship had appointed
as receiver of her rents. One night, during the
year 1719, a number of persons, armed and dis-
guised, were seen in the dead of night, very busy
among Mr. Robertson's barns and outhouses. That
* Chambers's Traditions of Edinburgh, p. 21.
f Culloden Papers, tf Quarterly Review," vol. xiv. This article is
written by Sir Walter Scott, and the anecdote is given on his personal
knowledge.
LORD LOVAT. 325
night, the whole of his stacks of corn and hay were
set on fire and entirely consumed. Lord Lovat was
suspected of being the instigator of this destruction ;
yet such was the dread of his power, that Mr. Robert-
son chose rather to submit to the loss in silence than
to prosecute, or even to name, the destroyer.
A worse outrage was perpetrated against Fraser of
Phopachy, a gentleman of learning and character,
and one who had befriended Lord Lovat in all his
troubles, and had refused to join with Fraserdale in
the Rebellion of 1715. Mr. Fraser had the charge
of Lord Lovat's domestic affairs, more especially of his
law contests, both in Edinburgh and in London.
When accounts were balanced between Lord Lovat
and Mr. Fraser, it was found that a considerable sum
was due to the latter. Among his other peculiarities
Lord Lovat had a great objection to pay his debts.
As usual, he insulted Fraser, and even threatened
him with a suit. Mr. Fraser, knowing well the man
with whom he had to deal, submitted the affair to
arbitration. A Mr. Cuthbert of Castlehill was chosen
on the part of his Lordship ; the result was, a decision
that a very considerable sum was due to Fraser.
Lord Lovat was violently enraged at this, and declared
that Castlehill had broken his trust. Not many days
afterwards, Castlehill Park, near Inverness, was invaded '
by a party of Highlanders, armed and disguised ; the
fences and enclosures were broken down, and a hundred
of his best milch-cows killed. Again the finger of
public opinion pointed at Lovat, but pointed in silence,
326 SIMON FRASER,
as the author of this wicked attack. None dared to
name him ; all dreaded a summary vengeance : his
crimes were detailed with a shudder of horror and
disgust ; their author was not mentioned.
Lord Lovat, moreover, instantly commenced a law-
suit against Fraser, in order to set aside the arbitra-
tion. This process, which lasted during the lifetime
of the victim, was scarcely begun when one night
Eraser's seat at Phopachy, which, unhappily, was near
the den of horrors, Castle Downie, was beset by
Highlanders, armed and disguised, who broke into
the house and inquired for Mr. Fraser. He was,
luckily, abroad. The daughters of the unfortunate
gentleman were, however, in the house ; they were
bound to the bed-posts and gagged ; and, doubtless,
the whole premises would have been pillaged or
destroyed, had not a female servant snatched a dirk
from the hands of one of the ruffians; and although
wounded, defended herself, while by her shrieks she
roused the servants and neighbours. The villains
fled, all save two, who were taken, and who, after a
desperate resistance, were carried off to the gaol at
Inverness ; they were afterwards tried, and capitally
convicted of housebreaking, or hamesaken, as it is called
in Scotland, and eventually hung. It appeared, from
the confession of one of these men to a clergyman at
Inverness, that the same head which planned the
destruction of Mr. Robertson's stacks had contrived
this outrage, and had even determined on the murder
of his former friend, Mr. Fraser. But the hour was
LORD LOVAT. 327
now at hand in which retribution for these crimes
was to be signally visited upon this disgrace to his
species. *
One more sufferer under his vile designs must be
recorded, the unhappy Lady Grange. In that story
which has been related of her fate, and which might,
indeed, furnish a theme for romance, she is said to
have ever alluded to Lord Lovat as the remorseless
contriver of that scheme which doomed her to suffer-
ings far worse than death, and to years of imbecility
and wanderings.f The subtlety of Lord Lovat equalled
his fierceness ; it is not often that such qualities are
combined in such fearful perfection. He could stoop
to the smallest attentions to gain an influence or
promote an alliance : a tradition is even believed of
his going to the dancing-school with two young
ladies, and buying them sweeties, in order to conciliate
the favour of their father, Lord Alva.
His habitual cunning and management were mani-
fested in his discipline of his clan. It was his chief
aim to impress upon the minds of his vassals that
his authority among them was absolute, and that no
power on earth could absolve them from it ; that
they had no right to inquire into the merits or justi-
fiableness of the action they were ordered to engage
in ; his will ought to be their law, his resentment a
sufficient reason for taking his part in a quarrel,
whether it were right or wrong.
One can hardly conceive that it could be requisite for
* Arbuthnot, p. 249. t Lady Grange's Memoirs.
328 SIMON ERASER,
the Frasers to give any fresh proof of their obedience
and fealtj ; yet it seems to have required a continual
effort on the part of Lord Lovat to establish his
authority and to keep up his dignity among the
Frasers. The reason assigned for this is, that though
they were his vassals, tenants, and dependants, yet
they must be brought to acknowledge his sovereignty ;
otherwise, when on some emergency he might require
their assistance, they might assume their natural
right of independence, and refuse to rise. It was Lord
Lovat's policy, therefore, to discourage all disposition
in his clansmen to enter trade or to go to sea and
seek their fortunes abroad, lest they should both shake
off their dependence on him, and also, by emigrating,
diminish the broad and pompous retinue with which
he chose to appear on all occasions. It was therefore
his endeavour to check industry, to oppose improve-
ment, to preach up the heroism of his ancestors, who
never stooped to the meannesses of commerce, but
made themselves famous by martial deeds. " Never,"
thus argued the chieftain, " had those brave men
enervated their bodies and debased their minds by
labours fit only for beasts or stupid drudges. Should
not the generous blood which flowed in their veins
still animate the brave Frasers to deeds of heroism I" *
Notwithstanding all these exalted sentiments, the
chief, who was set upon this pinnacle of power, hesi-
tated not to retain a hired assassin for the purpose of
executing any of his dark projects. Donald Gramoach,
* Arbuthnot, p. 241
LORD LOVAT. 329
a notorious robber, was long in the employ of Lovat,
who lavished large sums upon him. At length, in the
year 1742, this man was apprehended, lodged in
Dingwall Gaol ; and being convicted of robbery, was
sentenced to be hanged. Lord Lovat immediately
despatched a body of his Highlanders to rescue the
prisoner ; but the magistrates were aware of his inten-
tions ; the prison was doubly guarded, and the culprit
met with his due punishment.
Lord Lovat had long thrown off the mask of cour-
tesy, and had laid aside the arts of fawning to which
he had had recourse before his claims to the honours
and estates had been fully acknowledged. His tenants
now felt the iron rule of a merciless and necessitous
master ; for Lord Lovat's expenditure far exceeded his
means and revenue. He raised his rents, and many
of the farmers were forced to quit their farms ; but his
vassals by tenure were even more ruinously oppressed
by suits of law, compelling them to make out their
titles to their estates ; if they failed in so doing, he
insisted on forfeiture or escheate ; and, in some in-
stances, these suits were so expensive that it was
almost wiser to relinquish an estate, than to be plun-
dered in long and anxious processes.
At last, to prevent their utter ruin, the gentlemen
who held lands under Lord Lovat determined upon
resistance ; after twenty-seven years of bondage they
resolved to free themselves. They met together, and
unanimously resolved to unite their arms, and to
deliver themselves by their swords ; to this extremity
380 SIMON FRASER,
were reduced these brave and devoted adherents, who
had blindly rushed into every crime and every danger
at the command of their ungrateful chieftain. Their
resolution alarmed the tyrant ; he ordered the suits
against his vassals to be stopped, and excused, as well
as he could, and with his usual odious courtesy, the
severities into which he had been led. He was
playing a desperate game ; and the adherence of
these unhappy dependants was soon to be put to the
test.
His oppression of his stewards and agents was con-
sistent with the rest of his conduct. They could rarely
induce him to settle his accounts ; and if they ventured
to ask for sums due to them, he threatened them with
actions at law. He was all powerful, and they were
forced to submit. His inferior servants were treated
even still more oppressively. If they wished to leave
his Lordship's service, or asked for their wages, he
alleged some crime against them, which he always
found sufficient witnesses to prove. They were then
sent off to the cave of Beauly, a dismal retreat, about
a mile from his castle, where they were confined until
they were reduced to submission. That such enormi-
ties should have been tolerated in a land of liberty,
seems almost incredible ; but the slavery of the clans,
the poverty and ignorance of the people, the vast
power and influence of the chief, account, in some
measure, for this degrading bondage on the one hand,
this absolute monarchy on the other. *
* Arbuthnot.
LORD LOVAT. 331
This long-endured course of tyranny had not tended
to humble the heart of him who indulged in such an
immoderate exercise of power. The ambition of Lord
Lovat, always of a low and personal nature, increased
with years. He watched the state of public affairs,
and built upon their threatening character a scheme
by which he might, as he afterwards said, " be in a
condition of humbling his neighbours."
His allegiance was henceforth given to the Jacobites,
and his fidelity, if such a word could ever be used as
applied to him, seems actually to have lasted two
years, that is from 1717 to 1719, when a Spanish
invasion was undertaken in favour of the Pretender.
To that Lord Lovat promised to lend his aid, and
wrote to Lord Seaforth, promising to join him. But
the invasion was then defeated, and Lovat continued
to enjoy royal favour at home. On this occasion the
letter which Lord Lovat had written to Lord Seaforth,
was shown to Chisholm of Knoebsford before it was
delivered, and an affidavit of its contents was sent up
to Court. Upon Lord Lovat becoming acquainted
with this, he immediately got himself introduced at
Court, possibly with a view to deceiving the public
mind. Lady Seaforth having asked some favour from
him, he refused to grant it, unless she would return
that letter, which had been addressed to her son.
With his usual cunning he had omitted to sign the
letter, which he thought could not therefore be fixed
upon him. Upon receiving it back, Lovat showed it to
a friend, who remarked that there was enough in it to
332 SIMON FRASER,
condemn thirty lords. He immediately threw it into
the fire.
During many years of iniquity, Lord Lovat had
preserved, to all appearance, the good will of Duncan
Forbes. That great lawyer had been Lovat's legal
advocate during the long and expensive suits for the
establishment of his claims, and had generously refused
all fees or remuneration for his exertions. The letters
addressed by Lovat to him breathe the utmost regard,
and speak an intimacy which, as Sir Walter Scott
observes, " is less wonderful when we consider that
Duncan Forbes could endure the society of the infa-
mous Charteris." * Lovat's expressions of regard were
frequently written in French. " Mon aimable General :"
he writes to Mr. John Forbes, also, the President's elder
brother. "My dear Culloden." "Your affectionate
friend, and most obedient and most humble servant."
To the President, whom he always addressed with
some allusion to his brief military service, " My dear
General." " Your own Lovat." In 1716 such pro-
fessions as these are made to Mr. John Forbes.
" My dearest Provost (we must give you your title,
since it is to last but short), my dear General's letter
and yours are terrible ; but I was long ere now pre-
pared for all that could happen to me on your illustri-
ous brother's account : Pll stand by him to the last ;
and if I fall, as I do not doubt but I will, I'll receive the
blow without regret. But all I can tell you is this,
that we are very like to see a troublesome world, and
* Quarterly Review, vol. xiv. Culloden Papers.
LORD LOVAT. 333
my Generall and you will be yet useful ; and I am
ready to be with you to the last drop, for I am yours
eternally, Lovat." His frequent style to the President
was thus, " The most faithfull and afiectionat of your
slaves." It is indeed evident, in almost every letter,
what real obligations Lovat received from both Cullo-
den and his brother ; and how strenuously they sup-
ported his claim against Fraserdale.*
At the hospitable house of Culloden he was a fre-
quent guest, " a house, or castle," says the author of
" Letters from the North/' written previous to the year
1730, " belonging to a gentleman whose hospitality
knows no bounds. It is the custom of that house, at
the first visit or introduction, to take up war freedom,
by cracking his nut, as he terms it ; that is, a cocoa-
shell, which holds a pint, filled with champagne, or
such other sort of wine as you shall chuse. You may
guess, by the introduction, of the contents of the
volume. Few go away sober at any time ; and for the
greatest part of his guests, in the conclusion, they can-
not go at all."
" This he partly brings about artfully, by proposing,
after the public healths (which always imply bumpers),
such private ones as he knows will pique the interest
or inclination of each particular person of the com-
pany, whose turn it is to take the lead, to begin it in a
brimmer ; and he himself being always cheerful, and
sometimes saying good things, his guests soon lose
their guard, and then I need say no more." f
* Culloden Papers, p. 72.
t Burt's Letters from the North, vol. xxi.
334 SIMON FRASER,
In this hospitable house, a strange contrast to the
penuriousness and despotic management of Castle
Downie, Lord Lovat was on the most intimate footing.
His professions of friendship to the laird were unceas-
ing. " I dare freely say," he observes in one of his
characteristic letters, " that there is not a Forbes alive
wishes your personal health and prosperity more than
I do, affectionate and sincerely ; and I should be a
very ungrateful man if it was otherways, for no man
gave me more proofs of love and friendship at home
and abroad than John Forbes of Colodin did.
" As to carrying your lime to Lovat, I shall do more
in it than if it was for my own use. I shall give the
most pressing orders to my officers to send in my
tenants' horses ; and to show them the zeal and desire
that I have to serve you, I shall send my own labour-
ing horses to carry it, with as much pleasure as if it
was to build a house in Castle Downie."
Even his wife and his " beams" are " Colodin's faith-
ful slaves " " 111 never see a laird of Culodin I love
so much," he declares in another letter ; in which,
also, he reminds Mr. Forbes of a promise that he
" will do him the honour, since he cannot himself at this
time be present, to hold up his forthcoming child to
receive the holy water of baptisme, and make it a
better Christian than the father. I expect this mark
of friendship from my dear John Forbes of Culodin." *
Yet all these professions were wholly forgotten,
when Lord Lovat, being fairly established in his
* Culloden Papers, p. 106.
LORD LOVAT. 335
honours, no longer deemed the friendship of the Forbes
family necessary to him. An occasion then occurred,
in which Mr. Forbes's "grateful slave" showed the
caprice inherent in his nature. Forbes of Culloden
had long been the representative of Inverness, chiefly
through the interest of Lord Lovat ; but when Sir
"William Grant came forward to oppose the return of
Forbes, to the dismay of that gentleman, Lord Lovat
turned round, and, upon the plea of consanguinity,
used his interest in favour of the new candidate. The
disappointment resulting from this defeat is said to
have preyed upon the spirits of the worthy Laird of
Culloden, and to have caused his death.*
The decline of this alliance between the Forbes family
and Lord Lovat, was the prelude to greater changes.
In order to repress the local disturbances in the
Highlands, Government had adopted a remedy, well
termed by Sir Walter Scott, " of a doubtful and dan-
gerous character." This was the raising of a number
of independent companies among the Highlanders, to
be commanded by chieftains, and officered by their
sons, by tackmen, or by Dnihne vassals. At the period
when those great military roads were formed in
the Highlands between the year 1715 and 1745, these
companies were better calculated, it was supposed, to
maintain the repose of a country with which they were
well acquainted, than regular troops. But the experi-
ment did not succeed. The Highland companies,
known by the famous name of the Black "Watch, tra-
* Arbuthnot, p. 250.
336 SIMON FRASER,
versed the country, it is true, night and day, and
tracked its inmost recesses ; they knew the most dan-
gerous characters ; they were supposed to suppress all
internal disorders. But they were Highlanders. Whilst
they looked leniently upon robberies and outrages to
which they had been familiarized from their youth,
they revived in their countrymen the military spirit
which the late Act for disarming the clans had sub-
dued. Upon their removal from the Highlands, and
their exportation to Flanders, the mischief became
apparent ; and no regular force being sent to the High-
lands in their stead, those chieftains who were favour-
able to the exiled family, found it easy to turn the
restless temper and martial habits of their clansmen to
their own purposes.
Lord Lovat was one of those who thus acted. The
Ministry, irritated by his patronage of Sir William
Grant's interests, in preference to those of Forbes, at
the election for Inverness, suddenly deprived him of his
pension in 1739, and also of the command of the free
company of Highlanders. This was a rash proceeding,
and contrary to the advice of President Forbes. Lord
Lovat, who had caused his clansmen to enter his
regiment by rotation, and had thus, without suspicion,
been training his clan to the use of arms, soon showed
how dangerous a weapon had been placed in his hand,
and at how critical a period he had been incensed to
turn it against Government.
He had long been suspected. Even in 1737, in-
formation had been given of his buying up mus-
LORD LOYAT. 337
kets, broadswords, and targets, in numbers. When
challenged to defend himself from the imputation of
Jacobitism by a friend, he insisted upon the services
he had done in 1715 as a reason why he should for
ever be free from the imputation of disloyalty ; and
he continued to play the same subtle part, and to pre-
tend indifference to all fresh enterprises, to his friends
at Culloden, as that which he had always aifected.
" Everybody expects we shall have a war very soon,"
he writes to his friend John Forbes in 1 729 " which
I am not fond of ; for being now growne old, I desire
and wish to live in peace with all mankind, except
some damned Presbyterian ministers who dayly plague
me." * Yet, even then he was engaged in a plot to
restore the Stuarts. In 1736, when he was Sheriff for
the county, he received the celebrated Roy Stuart,
who was imprisoned at Inverness for high treason,
when he broke out of gaol, and kept him six weeks in
his house ; sending by him an assurance to the Pre-
tender of his fidelity, and at the same time desiring
Roy Stuart to procure him a commission as lieutenant-
general, and a patent of dukedom.
. This was the secret spring of his whole proceed-
ing. It is degrading to the rest of the Jacobites,
to give this double traitor an epithet ever applied to
honourable, and fervent, and disinterested men. The
sole business of Lovat was personal aggrandizement;
revenge was his amusement.
Henderson, in his " History of the Rebellion," attri-
* Culloden Papers, p. 106.
VOL. IF. Z
338 SIMON FRASER,
butes to Lord Lovat the entire suggestion of the inva-
sion of 1745. It is true that the Chevalier refused
to accede to the proposal made by Roy Stuart of an
invasion in 1735, not considering, as he said, that
the " time for his deliverance was as yet come." But,
after consulting the Pope, it was agreed that the
present time might be well employed in " whetting
the minds of the Highlanders, and in sowing in
them the seeds of loyalty that so frequently appear-
ed." In consequence of this, Lord Lovat's request
was granted ; a letter was written to him from the
Court, then at Albano, giving him full power to act
in the name of James, and the title of Duke of
Fraser and Lieutenant-General of the Highlands was
conferred upon the man who seems to have had the
art of infatuating all with whom he dealt."*
Lord Lovat immediately changed the whole style of
his deportment. He quitted the comparative retire-
ment of Castle Downie ; went to Edinburgh, where
he set up a chariot, and lived there in a sumptuous
manner, though with little of those ceremonials which
we generally associate with rank and opulence. He
now sought and obtained a very general acquaintance.
Few men had more to tell; and he could converse
about his former hardships, relate the account of his
introduction to Louis the Fourteenth, and to the
gracious Maintenon. He returned to Castle Downie.
That seat, conducted hitherto on the most penurious
scale, suddenly became the scene of a plenteous hospi-
* Henderson's History of the Rebellion, p. 8.
LORD LOVAT. 339
tality ; and its lord, once churlish and severe, became
liberal and free. He entertained the clans after their
hearts' desire, and he kept a purse of sixpences for the
poor. As his castle was almost in the middle of the
Highlands, it was much frequented ; and the crafty
Lovat now adapted his conversation to his own secret
ends. He expatiated to the Highlanders, always
greedy of fame, and vain beyond all parallel of their
country, upon the victories of Montrose on the fields of
Killicrankie and Cromdale.
" Such a sword and target," he would say to a
listener, " your honest grandfather wore that day, and
with it he forced his way through a hundred men.
Well did I know him ; he was my great friend, and an
honest man. Few are like him now-a-days ; you
resemble him pretty much."
Then he began to interpret prophecies and dreams,
and to relate to his superstitious listeners the dreams'
their fathers had before the battle, in which they
fought. He would trace genealogies as far back as the
clansmen pleased, and show their connection with
their chieftains.* They were all his " cousins and
friends ;" for he knew every person that had lived in
the country for years.
Then he spoke of the superiority of the broad-sword
and target over the gun and the bayonet ; he sneered
at the weakness of an army, after so many years of
peace, commanded by boys ; he boasted of the valour
of the Scots in Sweden and France ; he even unrid-
dled the prophecies of Bede and of Merlin. By these
z 2
340 SIMON FRASER,
methods he prepared the minds of those over whom he
ruled for the Rebellion ; but in the event, as it has
been truly said, " the thread of his policy was spun so
fine that at last it failed in the maker's hand/' *
The shrewdness of Lo vat's judgment might indeed
be called in question, when he decided to risk the
undisturbed possession of his Highland property for a
dukedom and prospect. But there were many persons
of rank and influence who believed, with Prince
Charles Edward, that " the Hanoverian yoke was
severely felt in England, and that now was the time to
shake it off." " The intruders of the family of Hano-
ver," observes a strenuous Jacobite, f " conscious of the
lameness of their title and the precariousness of their
tenure, seem to have had nothing in view but increas-
ing their power, and gratifying their insatiable avarice :
by the former, they proposed to get above the caprice
of the people ; and by the latter, they made sure of
something, happen what would." " Abundance of the
Tories," he further remarks, " had still a warm side for
the family of Stuart ; and as for the old stanch
Whigs, their attachment and aversion to families had
no other spring but their love of liberty, which they
saw expiring with the family of Hanover : they had
still this, and but this chance to recover it. In fine,
* Henderson, p. 10.
f James Maxwell, of Kirkconnell ; his narrative, of which I have a
copy, has been printed for the Maitland Club, in Edinburgh ; it is re-
markably clear, and ably and dispassionately written, and was composed
immediately after the events of the year 1745, of which Mr. Maxwell
was an eye-witness.
LORD LOVAT. 341
there was little opposition to be dreaded from any
quarter but from the army, gentlemen of that pro-
fession being accustomed to follow their leaders, and
obey orders without asking any questions. But there
were malcontents among them, too ; such as were men
of property, whose estates exceeded the value of their
commissions, did by no means approve of the present
measures."*
Upon the whole the conjuncture seemed favourable,
and Lord Lovat, whose political views were very
limited, was the first to sign the association des-
patched in 1736, according to some accounts, by others
in 1740, and signed and sealed by many persons of
note in Scotland, inviting the Chevalier to come over
to that country. His belief was, that France had at
all times the power to bring in James Stuart if she
had the will ; that, indeed, was the general expecta-
tion of the Jacobites.
" Most of the powers in Europe," writes Mr. Max-
well, " were engaged, either as principals or auxi-
liaries, in a war about the succession to the Austrian
dominions. France and England were hitherto only
auxiliaries, but so deeply concerned, and so sanguine,
that it was visible they would soon come to an open
rupture with one another ; and Spain had been at war
with England some years, nor was there the least
prospect of an accommodation. From those circum-
stances it seemed highly probable that France and
Spain would concur in forwarding the Prince's views."
* Maxwell of KirkconnelPs Narrative of the Prince's Expedition,
p. 10.
342 SIMON ERASER,
Influenced by these considerations, Lovat now be-
came chiefly involved in all the schemes of the Che-
valier. In 1743, when the invasion was actually
resolved upon, Lovat was fixed upon as a person of im-
portance to conduct the insurrection in the Highlands.
Nor did the failure of that project deter him from
continued exertions. During the two succeeding years,
and until after the battle of Preston Pans, he acted
with such caution and dissimulation, that, had his
party lost, he might still have made terms, as he
thought, with the Hanoverians.
In the beginning of the year 1745, Prince Charles
despatched several commissions to be distributed
among his friends in Scotland, with certain letters
delivered by Sir Hector Maclean, begging his friends
in the Highlands to be in readiness to receive him,
and desiring, " if possible, that all the castles and
fortresses in Scotland might be taken before his ar-
rival."* On the twenty-fifth of July,f the gallant
Charles Edward landed in a remote corner of the
Western Highlands, with only seven adherents. Lord
Lovat was informed of this event, but he continued to
play the deep game which his perfidious mind sug-
gested on all occasions. He sent one of his principal
agents into Lochaber to receive the young Prince's
commands, as Regent of the three kingdoms, and to
express his joy at his arrival. He sent also secretly for
his son, who was then a student at the University of
* See Lord Elcho's Narrative. MS.
t Some say the fifteenth. See Henderson.
LORD LOVAT. 343
St. Andrews, and compelled him to leave his pursuits
there, appointing him colonel of his clan. Arms,
money, and provisions were collected ; and the fiery
cross was circulated throughout the country.
Such proceedings could not be concealed, and the
Lord Advocate, Craigie, wrote to Lord Lovat from
Edinburgh, in the month of August, calling upon him
to prove his allegiance, referring to Lovat's son as
well able to assist him, and asking his counsels on the
state of the Highlands. The epistle alluded to a
long cessation of any friendly correspondence between
the Lord Advocate and Lord Lovat.
It was answered by assurances of loyalty. " I am
as ready this day (as far as I am able) to serve the
King and Government as I was in the year 1715, &c.
But my clan and I have been so neglected these
many years past, that I have not twelve stand of
arms in my country, though I thank God I could
bring twelve hundred good men to the field for the
King's service if I had arms and other accoutrements
for them." He then entreats a supply of arms, names
a thousand stand to be sent to Inverness, and promises
to engage himself in the King's service. He continues,
" Therefore, my good Lord, I earnestly entreat
that as you wish that I would do good service to the
Government on this critical occasion, you may order
immediately a thousand stand of arms to be delivered
to me and my clan at Inverness, and then your Lord-
ship shall see that I will exert myself for the King's
service ; and if we do not get these arms immediately,
344 SIMON FRASER,
we will certainly be undone ; for these madmen that
are in arms with the pretended Prince of Wales, threaten
every day to burn and destroy my country if we do
not rise in arms and join them ; so that my people
cry hourly that they have no arms to defend them-
selves, nor no protection or support from the Govern-
ment. So I earnestly entreat your Lordship may
consider seriously on this, for it will be an essential
and singular loss to the Government if my clan
and kindred be destroyed, who possess the centre of
the Highlands of Scotland, and the countries most
proper, by their situation, to serve the King and
Government."
" As to my son, ' my Lord, that you are so good as
to mention, he is very young, and just done with
his colleges at St. Andrews, under the care of a relation
of yours, Mr. Thomas Craigie, professor of Hebrew,
who I truly think one of the prettiest, most com-
plete gentlemen that I ever conversed with in any
country : and I think I never saw a youth that pleased
him more than my eldest son ; he says he is a very
good scholar, and has the best genius for learning
of any he has seen, and it is by Mr. Thomas Craigie's
positive advice, which he will tell you when you see
him, that I send my son immediately to Utrecht to
complete his education. But I have many a one
of my family more fitted to command than he is at
his tender age ; and I do assure your Lordship that
they will behave well if they are supported as they
ought from the Government."
LORD LOVAT. 345
This artful letter, wherein he talks of sending his
son to Utrecht, when he was, at that time, by threats
and persuasion driving him into the field of civil
war, is finished thus :
" I hear that mad and unaccountable gentleman"
(thus he designates the Prince) " has set up a standard
at a place called Glenfinnin Monday last. This place
is the inlet from Moydart to Lochaber ; and I hear
of none that joined him as yet, except the Camerons
and Macdonells."
But this masterpiece of art could not deceive the
honest yet discerning mind of him to whom it was
addressed.
Since the death of Mr. Forbes, the President had
resided frequently at Culloden, now his own property ;
his observing eye was turned upon the proceedings of
his neighbour at Castle Downie, but still appearances
were maintained between him and Lovat. " This day/'
writes the President to a friend, " the Lord Lovat came
to dine with me. He said he had heard with uneasi-
ness the reports that were scattered abroad ; but that
he looked on the attempt as very desperate ; that
though he thought himself but indifferently used lately,
in taking his company from him, yet his wishes still
being, as well as his interest, led him to support the
present Royal Family ; that he had lain absolutely still
and quiet, lest his stirring in any sort might have been
misrepresented or misconstrued ; and he said his busi-
ness with me was, to be advised what was to be done
on this occasion. I approved greatly of his disposition,
346 SIMON FRASER,
and advised him, until the scene should open a little,
to lay himself out to gain the most certain intelligence
he could come at, which the situation of his clan will
enable him to execute, and to prevent his kinsmen
from being seduced by their mad neighbours, which
he readily promised to do."
Consistent with these professions were the letters
of Lovat to the President.
" I have but melancholy news to tell you, my
dear Lord, of my own country ; for I have a strong
report that mad Foyers is either gone, or preparing
to go, to the West ; and I have the same report of
poor Kilbockie ; but I don't believe it. However,
if I be able to ride in my chariot the length of
Inverness, I am resolved to go to Stratherrick next
week, and endeavour to keep my people in order.
I forgot to tell you that the man yesterday assured
me that they were resolved to burn and destroy
all the countries where the men would not join them,
with fire and sword, which truly frights me much,
and has made me think of the best expedient I
could imagine to preserve my people.
" As I know that the Laird of Lochiel has always
a very affectionate friendship for me, as his relation,
and a man that did him singular services, and as he
is perfectly well acquainted with Gortuleg, I endea-
voured all I could to persuade Tom to go there,
and that he should endeavour in my name to persuade
Lochiel to protect my country ; in which I think I
could succeed : but I cannot persuade Gortuleg to
LORD LOVAT. 347
go ; he is so nice with his points of honour that he
thinks his going would bring upon him the character
of a spy, and that he swears he would not have for the
creation. I used all the arguments that I was capable
of, and told him plainly that it was the greatest
service he could do to me and to my country, as I
knew he could bring me a full account of their
situation, and that is the only effectual means 'that
I can think of to keep the Stratherrick men and
the rest of my people at home. He told me at
last he would take some days to consider of it until
he comes out of Stratherrick ; but I am afraid that
will be too late. I own I was not well pleased with
him, and we parted in a cooler manner than we used
to do." *
In all his letters he characterizes Charles Edward,
to whom he had just pledged his allegiance, as the
" pretended Prince." His affectation of zeal in the cause
of Government, his pretence of an earnest endeavour
to arrest the career of the very persons whom he was
exciting to action, his exertions with my " cousin
Gortuleg/' and his delight to find that " honest
Kilbockie," whom he had been vilifying, had not
stirred, and would do nothing without his consent,
might be amusing if they were not traits of such
wanton irreclaimable falsehood in an aged man,
soon to be called to an account, before a heavenly
tribunal, for a long career of crime and injury to
his neighbours.
* Culloden Papers, pp. 211, 372.
348 SIMON FRASER,
If any further instance of his duplicity can be
read with patience, the following letter to Lochiel,
who, according to Lovat, had a very affectionate
friendship for him, affords a curious specimen of cun-
ning. *
" 1745.
" DEAR LOCHIEL,
" I fear you have been over rash in going ere
affairs were ripe. You are in a dangerous state.
The Elector's General, Cope, is in your rear, hanging
at your tail with three thousand men, such as have
not been seen here since Dundee's affair, and we
have no force to meet him. If the Macphersons will
take the field I would bring out my lads to help the
work ; and 'twixt the two we might cause Cope to keep
his Christmas here ; but only Cluny is earnest in the
cause, and my Lord Advocate plays at cat and mouse
with me ; but times may change, I may bring him
to Saint Johnstone's tippet. Meantime look to your-
selves, for ye may expect many a sour face and sharp
weapons in the South. I'll aid when I can, but
my prayers are all I can give at present. My
service to the Prince, but I wish he had not come
here so empty-handed. Siller would go far in the
Highlands. I send this by Evan Eraser, whom I have
charged to give it to yourself ; for were Duncan to
find it, it would be my head to an onion. Farewell !
" Your faithful frend,
" LOVAT."
" For the Laird of Lochiel.
" Yse."
* Anderson, p. 150.
LORD LOVAT. 349
But perhaps the most odious feature in this part
of Lovat's career was his treachery to Duncan Forbes,
whose exertions had placed his unworthy client in
possession of his property, and whose early ties of
neighbourhood ought, at any rate, to have secured
him from danger. A party of the Stratherric Erasers,
kinsmen and clansmen of Lovat's, attacked Culloden
House, as there was every reason to believe with
the full concurrence of Lovat. Forbes, who was
perfectly aware of the source whence the assault
proceeded, appeared to treat it lightly, talked of it
as an " idle attempt," never hinting that he guessed
Lovat's participation in the affair, and only lamenting
that the ruffians had " robbed the gardener and
the poor weaver, who was a common benefit to the
country." Lovat, as it has been sagaciously remarked,
the guilty man, took it up much more knowingly.
This tissue of artifice was carried on for some weeks ;
first by a vehement desire to have arms sent in
order to repel the rebels, then by hints that the
inclinations of his people, and the extensive popularity
of the cause began to make it doubtful whether he
could control their rash ardour. " Your Lordship
may remember," he wrote to Forbes, " that I had a
vast deal of trouble to prevent my men rising at the
beginning of this affair ; but now the contagion is so
general, by the late success of the Highlanders, that
they laugh at any man that would dissuade them
from going ; so that I really know not how to behave.
I really wish I had been in any part of Britain these
350 SIMON FRASER,
twelve months past, both for my health and other
considerations." * The feebleness of his health was
a point on which, for some reasons or other, he
continually insisted. It is not often that one can hear
an aged man complain, without responding by pity
and sympathy.
" I 'm exceeding glad to know that your Lordship
is in great health and spirits : I am so unlucky
that my condition is the reverse ; for I have neither
health nor spirits. I have entirely lost the use of
my limbs, for I can neither walk nor mount a horse-
back without the help of three or four men, which
makes my life both uneasy and melancholy. But
I submit to the will of God." This account, indeed,
rather confirms a tradition that Lord Lovat, after the
separation from his wife, sank into a state of despon-
dency, and lay two years in bed previous to the
Rebellion of 1745. When the news of the Prince's
landing was brought to him, he cried out, " Lassie,
bring me my brogues. I '11 rise too." f
At length, this wary traitor took a decisive step.
His dilatoriness had made many of the Pretender's
friends uneasy, and showed too plainly that he had
been playing a double game. He was urged by some
emissaries of Charles Edward " to throw off the mask,"
upon which he pulled off his hat and exclaimed
" there it is !" He then, in the midst of his assembled
vassals, drank " confusion to the white horse, and
* Culloden Papers, p. 230.
t Chanibers's Traditions of Edinburgh, p. 9.
LORD LOVAT. 351
all the generation of them.""* He declared that he
would " cut off" in a moment any of his tenants
who refused to join the cause, and expressed his
conviction that as sure as the sun shined his " master
would prevail."
This was in the latter part of the summer : on the
twenty-first of September the battle of Preston Pans
raised the hopes of the Jacobites to the highest pitch,
and Alexander Macleod was sent to the Highland
chieftains to stimulate their loyalty and to secure
their rising. Upon his visiting Castle Downie he
found Lovat greatly elated by the recent victory,
which he declared was not to be paralleled. He now
began to assemble his men, and to prepare in earnest
for that part which he had long intended to adopt ;
" but," observes Sir Walter Scott, " with that machi-
avelism inherent in his nature, he resolved that his
own personal interest in the insurrection should be
as little evident as possible, and determined that his
son, whose safety he was bound, by the laws of God
and man, to prefer to his own, should be his stalking-
horse, and in case of need his scape-goat." f
Lord President Forbes, who had been addressing
himself to the Highland chieftains, exhorting the well-
affected to bestir themselves, and entreating those who
were devoted to the Pretender not to involve them-
selves and their families in ruin, expostulated by
* Explained in the trial, by Chevis, one of the witnesses, to be in
allusion to the royal arms.
t Quarterly Review, vol. xiv. p. 327.
352 SIMON FRASER,
letter with Lord Lovat upon the course which his son
was now openly pursuing, pointing out how greatly it
would reflect upon the father, whose co-operation or
countenance he supposed to be impossible. The letters
written on this subject by Forbes are admirable, and
show a deep interest not only in the security of his
country, but also in the fate of the young man, who
afterwards redeemed his involuntary errors by a career
of the highest respectability.
" You have now so far pulled off the mask," writes
the President, " that we can see the mark you aimed
at." " You sent away your son, and the best part of
your clan/' he adds, after a remonstrance full of good
sense and candour, " to join the Pretender, with as little
concern as if no danger had attended such a step. And
I am sorry to tell you, my Lord, that I could sooner
undertake to plead the cause of any one of those un-
happy gentlemen who are actually in arms against his
Majesty ; and I could say more in defence of their
conduct, than I could in defence of your Lordship's." *
Can any instance of moral degradation be adduced
more complete than this ? The implication of a son
by a father, who had used his absolute authority to
drive his son into an active part in the affairs of the
day ?
" I received the honour of your Lordship's letter,"
writes Lovat, in reply, " late last night, of yesterday's
date ; and I own that I never received any one like it
since I was born ; and I give your Lordship the thou-
* Edinburgh Review, 1816, vol. xxvi. p. 131.
LORD LOVAT. 353
sand thanks for the kind freedom you use with me in
it ; for I see by it that for my misfortune of having
ane obstinate stubborn son, and ane ungrateful
kindred, my family must go to destruction, and I must
lose my life in my old age. Such usage looks rather
like a Turkish or Persian government than like a Bri-
tish. Am I, my Lord, the first father that had ane
undutiful and unnatural son 1 or am I the first man
that has made a good estate, and saw it destroyed in his
own time 1 but I never heard till now, that the fool-
ishness of a son, would take away the liberty and life
of a father, that lived peaceably, that was ane honest
man, and well inclined to the rest of mankind. But I
find the longer a man lives, the more wonders, and ex-
traordinary things he sees.
" Now, my Lord, as to the civil war that occasions
my misfortune ; and in which, almost the whole
kingdom is involved on one side or other. I humbly
think that men should be moderate on both sides,
since it is morally impossible to know the event. For
thousands, nay, ten thousands on both sides are posi-
tive that their own party will carry ; and suppose that
this Highland army should be utterly defeat, and that
the Government should carry all in triumph, no man
can think that any king upon the throne would de-
stroy so many ancient families that are engaged in it."
Upon the news of the Pretender's troops marching
to England, the Frasers, headed by the Master of
Lovat, formed a sort of blockade round Fort Augustus ;
upon which the Earl of Loudon, with a large body of
VOL. II. A A
354 SIMON FRASER,
the well-affected clans, marched, in a very severe frost
during the month of December, to the relief of Fort
Augustus. His route lay through Stratherric, Lord
Lovat's estate, on the south side of Loch Ness. Fort
Augustus surrendered without opposition ; and the
next visit which Lord Loudon paid was to Castle
Downie, where he prevailed on Lord Lovat to go with
him to Inverness, and to remain there under London's
eye, until his clan should have been compelled to bring
in their arms. Lord Lovat was now very submissive ;
he promised that this should be done in three days,
and highly condemned the conduct of his son. But he
still delayed to surrender the arms ; and, at last, found
means, in spite of his lameness which he was always
lamenting, to get out of the house where he was lodged
by a back passage, and to make his escape to the Isle
of Muily, in Glenstrathfarrer. Here he occupied him-
self in exciting all the clans, especially his own Frasers,
to join in the insurrection. A scheme having been
submitted to the Duke of Cumberland, for the preven-
tion of all future disturbances by transporting all those
who had been found in arms to America, Lord Lovat
had this document translated into Gaelic, and circulated
in .the Highlands, in order to exasperate the natives
against the Duke, and to show that that General intended
to extirpate them root and branch. Unhappily, the
event did not serve to dispel those suspicions. This
manifesto, as it was called, was read publicly in the
churches every Sunday.
The march of the rebels to Inverness drove Lord
LORD LOVAT. 355
London to retire into Sutherland early in 1746, and
President Forbes had accompanied him in his retreat.
It was, therefore, again practicable for Lord Lovat
to return to his own territory ; and we find him, before
the battle of Culloden, alternately at Castle Downie, or
among some of his adherents, chiefly at the House of
Fraser of Gortuleg, from which the following letter
which exemplifies much of the character of Lovat, ap-
pears to have been written.
" March 20, 1746.
" MY DEAREST CHILD,
" Gortulegg came home last night, with Inocrala-
chy's brother ; and the two Sandy Fairfield's son, and
mine : and I am glad to know, that you are in perfect
health, which you may be sure I wish the continuance
of. I am sure for all Sandy's reluctance to come to
this country, he will be better pleased with it than any
where else ; for he has his commerade, Gortuleg's son,
to travell up and down with him ; I shall not desire
him to stay ane hour in the house but when he
pleases.
" My cousin, Mr. William Fraser, tells me that the
Prince sent notice to Sir Alexander Beunerman, by
Sir John M'Donell, that he would go some of these
days, and view my country of the Aird, and fish salmon
upon my river of Beauly, I do not much covet that
great honour at this time as my house is quite out of
order, and that I am not at home myself nor you :
however, if the Prince takes the fancy to go, you must
offer to go along with him, and offer him a glass of
wine and any cold meat you can get there. I shall
A A 2
356 SIMON FRASER,
send Sanday Doan over immediately, if you think that
the Prince is to go : so I have ordered the glyd post
to be here precisely this night.
" Mr. William Fraser says, that Sir Alexander Ben-
nerman will not give his answer to Sir John M'Donell,
till he return about the Prince's going to Beaufort ;
and that cannot be before Saturday morning. So I
beg, my dearest child, you may consider seriously of
this, not to let us be affronted ; for after Sir Alex-
ander and other gentlemen were entertained at your
house, if the Prince should go and meet with no re-
ception, it will be ane affront, and a stain upon you
and me while we breathe. So, my dearest child,
don't neglect this ; for it is truely of greater conse-
quence to our honour than you can imagine, tho' in
itself it's but a maggot : but, I fancy, since Cumber-
land is comeing so near, that these fancy's will be out
of head. However, I beg you may not neglect to
acquaint me (if it was by ane express) when you are
rightly informed that the Prince is going. I have
been extreamly bad these four days past with a fever
and a cough ; but I thank God I am better since
yesterday affernoon. I shall be glad to see you here,
if you think it proper for as short or as long a time as
you please. All in this family offer you their com-,
pliments : and I ever am, more than I can express, my
dearest child, your most affected and dutiful father,
" P. S. The Prince's reason for going to my house
is, to see a salmon kill'd with the rod, which he never
LORD LOVAT. 357
saw before ; and if he proposes that fancy; he must
not be disappointed.
" I long to hear from you by the glyd post some
time this night. I beg, my dear child, you may send
me any news you have from the east, and from the
north, and from the south."*
It was not until after the battle of Culloden that
Charles Edward and Lord Lovat first met. In that
engagement, Lovat's infirmities, as well as his precau-
tions, had prevented his taking an active part ; but his
son, the Master of Lovat, whose energy in the cause
which he had unwillingly espoused, met the praise of
Prince Charles, led his clan up to the encounter, and
was one of the few who effected a junction with the
Prince on the morning of the battle. Fresh auxiliaries
from the clan Fraser were hastening in at the very
moment of that ill-judged action ; and they behaved
with their accustomed bravery, and were permitted
to march off unattacked, with their pipes playing,
and their colours flying. The great body of the
clan Fraser were led by Charles Fraser, junior, of
Inverlaltochy, as Lieutenant-Colonel in the absence of
the Master of Lovat, who was coming up with three
hundred men, but met the Highlanders flying. The
brave Inverlaltochy was killed ; and the fugitives were
sorely harassed by Kingston's light horse.
The battle of Culloden occurring shortly afterwards,
decided the question of Lord Lovat's political bias.
Very different accounts have been transmitted of
the feelings and conduct of Prince Charles after the
* State Trials, vol. xviii.
358 SIMON FRASER,
fury of the contest had been decided. By some it
has been stated, that he lost on that sad occasion
those claims to a character for valour which even
his enemies had not hitherto refused him ; but Mr.
Maxwell has justified the unfortunate and inexperienced
young man.
" The Prince," he says, " seeing his army entirely
routed, and all his endeavours to rally the men fruitless,
was at last prevailed upon to retire. Most of his horse
assembled around his person to secure his retreat,
which was made without any danger, for the enemy
advanced very leisurely over the ground. They were
too happy to have got so cheap a victory over a
Prince and an enemy that they had so much reason
to dread. They made no attack where there was
any body of the Prince's men together, but contented
themselves with sabering such unfortunate people as
fell in his way single and disarmed." *
" If he did less at Culloden than was expected
from him," adds this partial, but honest follower, " 'twas
only because he had formerly done more than could
be expected." He justly blames the Prince's having
come over without any officer of experience to guide
him. " He was too young himself, and had too little
experience to perform all the functions of a general ;
and though there are examples of princes that seem
to have been born generals, they had the advice and
assistance of old experienced officers, men that under-
stood, in detail, all that belongs to any army." f
* Maxwell of Kirkconnel, p. 157.
fid. *
LORD LOVAT. 359
Lord Elcho, in his manuscript, thus accounts for the
censures which were cast upon the Prince by those
who shared his misfortunes.
" What displeased the people of fashion (conse-
quence) was, that he did not seem to have the least
sense of what they had done for him ; but, after all,
would afterwards say they had done nothing but their
duty, as his father's subjects were boun 1 to do.
" And there were people about him that took ad-
vantage to represent the Scotch to him as a mutinous
people, and that it was not so much for him they were
fighting as for themselves ; and repeated to him all
their bad behaviour to Charles the First and Charles
the Second, and put it to him in the worst light, that at
tEe battle of Culloden he thought that all the Scots in
general were a parcel of traitors. And he would have
continued in the same mind had he got out of the
country immediately ; but the care they took of his
person when he was hiding made him change his mind,
and affix treason only to particulars." *
After the battle was decided, and the plain of Cul-
loden abandoned to the fury of an enemy more merci-
less and insatiable than any who ever before or after
answered to an English name, the Prince retired across
a moor in the direction of Fort Augustus, and, accord-
ing to Maxwell, slept that night at the house of Fraser
of Gortuleg ; and there for the first time saw Lord
Lovat. But this interview is declared by Arbuthnot,
who appears to have gathered his facts chiefly from
Lord Elcho's MSS.
360 SIMON FRASER,
local information, in the Castle of Downie ; and the
testimony of Sir Walter Scott confirms the assertion.
" A lady/' writes Sir Walter, " who, then a girl, was
residing in Lord Lovat's family, described to us the
unexpected appearance of Prince Charles and his flying
attendants at Castle Downie. The wild and desolate
vale on which she was gazing with indolent composure,
was at once so suddenly filled with horsemen riding
furiously towards the Castle, that, impressed with the
idea that they were fairies, who, according to men,
are visible only from one twinkle of the eyelid to
another, she strove to refrain from the vibration which
she believed would occasion the strange and magnifi-
cent apparition to become invisible. To Lord Lovat it
brought a certainty more dreadful than the presence
of fairies or even demons. The tower on which he
had depended had fallen to crush him, and he only
met the Chevalier to exchange mutual condolences." *
The Prince, it is affirmed, rushed into the chamber
where Lovat, supported by men, for he could not stand
without assistance, awaited his approach. The un-
happy fugitive broke into lamentations. " My Lord,"
he exclaimed, " we are undone ; my army is routed :
what will become of poor Scotland V Unable to utter
any more, he sank fainting on a bed near him. Lord
Lovat immediately summoned assistance, and by proper
remedies the Prince was restored to a consciousness of
his misfortunes, and to the recollection that Castle
Downie, a spot upon which the vengeance of the
* Quarterly Review, vol. xiv. p. 328.
LORD LOVAT. 361
Government was sure to fall, could be no safe abiding
place for him or for his followers.*
Such was the commencement of those wanderings, to
the interest and romance of which no fiction can add.
After this conference was ended, Prince Charles went
to Invergarie ; Lord Lovat prepared for flight.
His first place of retreat was to a mountain, whence
he could behold the field of battle ; he collected his
officers and men around him, and they gazed with
mournful interest upon the plain of Culloden. Heaps
of wounded men were lying in their blood ; others were
still pursued by the soldiers of an army whose orders
were, from their royal General, to give no quarter ; fire
and sword were everywhere ; vengeance and fury raged
on the moor watered by the river Nairn. Here, too, the
unhappy Frasers and their chief might view Culloden
House, a large fabric of stone, graced with a noble
avenue of great length leading to the house, and sur-
rounded by a park covered with heather. Here
Charles Edward had slept the night before the battle.
The remembrance of many social hours, of the hospi-
tality of that old hall, might recur at this moment to
the mind of Lovat. But whatever might be his reflec-
tions, his fortitude remained unbroken. He turned to
the sorrowful clan around them, and addressed them.
He recurred to his former predictions : " I have fore-
told," he said, still attempting to keep up his old
influence over the minds of his clans, " that our ene-
mies would destroy us with the fire and sword ; they
* Arbuthnot, p. 270.
362 SIMON PHASER,
have begun with me, nor will they cease until they
have ravaged all the country." He still, however,
exhorted his captains to keep together their men, and
to maintain a mountain war, so that at least they
might obtain better terms of peace. Having thus
counselled them, he was carried upon the shoulders
of his followers to the still farther mountains, from
one of which he is said, by a singular stroke of retri-
butive justice, to have beheld Castle Downie, the
scene of his crime, to maintain the splendour of which
he had sacrificed every principle, and compassed every
crime, burned by the infuriated enemy. Nine hundred
men, under Brigadier Mordaunt, were detached for this
purpose.
In one of the Highland fastnesses Lovat remained
some time ; but the blood-thirsty Cumberland was eager
in pursuit. Parties of soldiers were sent out in search
of Lovat, and he soon found that it was no longer safe
to remain in the vicinity of Beaufort. He fled, in the
first instance, to Cawdor Castle. In this famous struc-
ture, with its iron-grated doors, its ancient tapestry
hanging over secret passages and obscure approaches,
he took refuge. In one of its towers, in a small low
chamber beneath the roof, the wretched old man con-
cealed himself for some months. When he was at last
obliged to quit it, he descended by means of a rope
from his chamber.
He had still lost neither resolution nor energy.
On the fourth of May, fifteen of the Jacobites chief-
tains, Lord Lovat among the number, met in the
Island of Mortlaig, to concert measures for raising a
LORD LOVAT.
body of men to resist the victorious troops. On this
occasion Lord Lovat declared that they need not be
uneasy, since he had no doubt but that they should
be able to collect eight or ten thousand men to
light the Elector of Hanover's troops. Cameron of
Lochiel, Murray of Broughton, and several other
leaders of distinction were present ; Lord Lovat was
attended by many of his own clan, who were armed
with dirks, swords, and pistols, and marked by wearing
sprays of yew in their bonnets. But the conference
broke up without any important result. The leaders
embraced each other, drank to Prince Charles's health,
and separated. On this occasion Lord Lovat headed
that party among the Jacobites who still looked for aid
from France, and abjured the notion of surrendering to
the conqueror.* Still hunted, to use his own expression,
" like a fox," through the main land, Lovat now got off
in a boat to the Island of Morar, where he thought
himself secure from his enemies ; but it was decreed
that his iniquitous life should not close in peaceful ob-
scurity. It was not long before he heard that a party
of the King's troops had arrived in pursuit of him, and
a detachment of the garrison of Fort William, on board
the Terror and Furnace sloops, was also despatched,
to make descents on different parts of the island.
Lovat retreated into the woods ; Captain Mellon, who
commanded the detachment searched every town, vil-
lage, and house ; but not finding the fugitive, he re-
solved to traverse the woods, planting parties at the
openings to intercept an escape. In the course of his
* "State Trials, vol. xviii. p. 734.
364 SIMON FRASER,
researches he passed a very old tree, which, from
some slits in its trunk, he and his men perceived to be
hollow. One of the soldiers, peeping into the aperture,
thought he saw a man's leg ; upon which he sum-
moned his captain, who, on investigating farther, found
on one side a large opening, in which stood a pair of
legs, the rest of the figure being hidden within the
hollow of the tree. This was, however, quiekly disco-
vered to be Lord Lovat, for whom this party had then
been three days in search. He was wrapped in blan-
kets, to protect his aged limbs from the cold.
Thus discovered, Lovat was forced to surrender, but
his spirit rose with the occasion : he told Captain Mellon
that " he had best take care of him ; for if he did not,
he should make him answer for his conduct before a
set of gentlemen the very sight of whom would make
him tremble." He was taken, in the first instance,
to Fort William, where he was treated with humanity,
in obedience to the express orders of the Duke of
Cumberland. From this prison Lovat wrote a letter
to the Duke, reminding his Eoyal Highness of the
services which he had performed in 1715, and of the
favour shown him by George the First. "I often
carried your Eoyal Highness," pursues the unhappy
old man, " in my arms, in the palaces of Kensington
and of Hampton Court, to hold you up to your royal
grandfather, that he might embrace you, for he was
very fond of you and the young princesses." He then
represented to the Duke that if mercy were shown
him, and he " might have the honour to kiss the
Duke's hand, he might do more service to the King
LORD LOVAT. 365
and Government than destroying a hundred such
old and very infirm men like me, (past seventy,
without the least use of my hands, legs, or knees,)
can be of advantage in any shape to the Government."
He was conveyed soon after this letter, which is
dated June the twenty-second, 1746, to Fort Augustus.
He had requested that a litter might be prepared for
him, for he was not able either to stand, walk, or
ride. On the fifteenth of July he was removed, under
a strong guard, to Stirling, where a party of Lord
Mark Ker's dragoons received him. After a few days
rest he passed through Edinburgh for the last time ;
thence to Berwick, and on the twenty-fifth he began
his last journey under the escort of sixty dragoons
commanded by Major Gardner. His journey to London
was divided into twenty stages, and he was to travel
one stage a day. It was, indeed, of importance to
the Government that he should reach London alive,
since many disclosures were expected from Lovat.
On reaching Newcastle three days afterwards he ap-
peared to be in a very feeble state, and walked from
his coach to his lodgings supported by two of the
dragoons. As he travelled along in a sort of cage, or
horse-litter, the acclamations and hisses of the populace
everywhere assailed him ; but his spirits were un-
broken, and he talked confidently of his return.
But as he drew near London this security dimi-
nished. He happened to reach London a few days
before the unhappy Jacobite noblemen were beheaded
on Tower Hill. On his way to the Tower he passed
366 SIMON FRASER,
the scaffold which was erected for their execution.
" Ah !" he exclaimed, " I suppose it will not be long v
before I shall make my exit there."
He was received in the Tower by the Lieutenant-
Governor, who conducted him to the apartment pre-
pared for his reception. Here, reclining in an elbow
chair, he is said to have broken out into reflections
upon his eventful and singular career. He uttered
many moral sentiments, and expressed himself, as
many other men have done on similar occasions,
perfectly satisfied with his own intentions. Such was
the self-deception of this extraordinary man.*
In this prison Lovat remained during five months
without being brought to trial. But the delay was
of infinite importance ; it prepared him to quit, with
what may be almost termed heroism, a life which he
had employed in iniquity. Without remembering this
interval, during which ample time for preparation had
been afforded, the hardihood which could sport with
the most solemn of all subjects, would shock rather
than astonish. In consideration of the conduct of
many of our state prisoners on the scaffold, we must
recollect how familiarized they had previously become
with death, in those gloomy chambers whence they
could see many a fellow sufferer issue, to shed his
blood on the same scaffold which would soon be
re-erected for themselves.
During his imprisonment, Lovat had the affliction of
hearing that his estates, after being plundered of
* Arbuthnot, p. 279.
LORD LOVAT. 367
everything and destroyed by fire, were given by the
Duke of Cumberland to James Fraser of Cullen
Castle.* He was therefore left without a shilling
of revenue during his confinement, and was thus
treated as a convicted prisoner. In this situation he
was reduced to the utmost distress, and indebted
solely to the bounty of a kinsman, administered through
Governor Williamson, for subsistence. At length, early
in the year 1747, upon preferring a petition to the
House of Lords, these grievances were in a great mea-
sure redressed. Yet the unhappy prisoner had sus-
tained many hardships. Among others the legal
plunder of his strong box, containing the sum of seven
hundred pounds, and of many valuables.!
After much deliberation on the part of the Crown
lawyers, Lord Lovat was impeached of high treason.
" We learn," says Mr. Anderson, " from Lord Mans-
field's speech in the Sutherland cause, that much
deliberation was necessary. It was foreseen that his
Lordship would have recourse to art. If he was tried
as a commoner he might claim to be a peer ; if tried
as a peer he might claim to be a commoner. Every-
thing was fully considered ; the true solid ground
upon which he was tried as a peer, was the pre-
sumption in favour of the heirs male." f
On Monday, the ninth of March, the proceedings were
commenced against Lord Lovat ; and a renewal took
place of that scene which Horace Walpole declared to
* Chambers's Biography. Art. Fraser t State Trials.
+ Anderson, p. 153.
368 SIMON FRASER,
be " most solemn and fine ; a coronation is a pup-
pet-show, and all the splendour of it idle ; but this
sight at once feasted the eyes, and engaged all one's
passions."
Lord Lovat was now dragged forth to play the last
scene of his eventful life. His size had by this time
become enormous, so that when he had first entered
the Tower it was jestingly said that the doors
must be enlarged to receive him. He could nei-
ther walk nor ride, as he was almost helpless ; he
was deaf, purblind, eighty years of age, ignorant
of English law, and it was therefore not a matter
of surprise that the high-born tribes, who thronged
to his trial, were disappointed in the brilliancy
of his parts, and in the readiness of his wit. " I
see little of parts in him," observes Walpole, "nor
attribute much to that cunning for which he is so
famous ; it might catch wild Highlanders." Singular,
indeed, must have been the contrast between Lord
Lovat and the polished assembly around him : the
Lord High Steward, Hardwicke, comely, and endowed
with a fine voice, but " curiously searching for occa-
sions to bow to the Minister, Henry Pelham," and ask-
Q
ing at all hands what he was to do. The rude High-
land clansmen, vassals of Lord Lovat's, but witnesses
against him ; above all, the blot and scourge of the
Jacobite cause, Murray of Broughton, who was the
chief witness against the prisoner, must have formed
an assembly of differing characters not often to be
seen, and never to be forgotten.
LORD LOVAT. 369
The trial lasted five days ; it affords, as has been
well remarked, a history of the whole of the Rebellion
of 1745. Robert Chevis of Muirtown, a near neigh-
bour of Lovat's, but, as the counsel for the Crown
observed, a man of very different principles, gave tes-
timony against the prisoner. At the end of the third
day, Lord Lovat, pleading that lie had been up at four
o'clock in the morning, " to attend their Lordships,"
and declaring that he would rather " die on the road
than not pay them that respect," prayed a respite
of a day, which was granted. It appeared, indeed,
doubtful in what form death would seize him first,
and whether disease and age might not cheat the
scaffold of its victim.
Lord Lovat spoke long in his defence, but without
producing any revulsion in his favour. Throughout
the whole of the proceedings he appears not to have
dreaded the rigour of the law ; when the defence was
closed, and the Lord High Steward was about to put
the question, guilty or not guilty, to the House, the
Lieutenant of the Tower was ordered by the Lord
Steward to take the prisoner from the bar, but not
back to the Tower.
" If your Lordships," said Lovat, " would send me to
the Highlands, I would not go to the Tower any more."
He was pronounced guilty by the unanimous votes of
one hundred and seventeen Lords present. He was then
informed of his sentence, and remanded to his prison.
On the following day, March the nineteenth, he was
brought up to receive sentence. On that occasion, in
VOL. II. B B
370 SIMON FRASER,
reply to the question " why judgment of death should
not be passed upon him," he made a long and, consi-
dering his fatigues and infirmities, an extraordinary
speech, giving the Lords " millions of thanks for being
so good in their patience and attendance," and drawing
a parallel between the two different men of the name
of Murray, who had figured in the trial. The one was
Murray of Broughton ; the other, Murray afterwards
Lord Mansfield. He then went into the history of his
life ; or, at least, into such passages of it as were
proper for the public ear. He was interrupted by the
Lord High Steward, whose conduct to the unhappy
State prisoner is said to have been peevish and over-
bearing.
Judgment of death was then pronounced upon him,
and the barbarous sentence which had been passed
upon the Earl of Wintoun was pronounced ; " to be
hanged by the neck, but not till you are dead/ 7 &c.
The prisoner then spoke again ; hoping by this reiter-
ated reference to his services, to obtain a mitigation of
the sentence ; but he spoke to those who heard, with-
out compassion, the petitions for mercy which fell from
an aged, tottering, and miserable old man. Well has
it been said, " Whatever his character or his crimes
might be, the humanity of the British Government
incurred a deep reproach, from the execution of an old
man on the very verge of the grave." *
At last, the Lord High Steward put the final ques-
tion : " Would you offer anything further V 9
" Nothing," was the reply, " but to thank your
* Laing's History of Scotland, p. 299.
LORD LOVAT. 371
Lordships for your goodness to me. God bless you all ;
I bid you an everlasting farewell. We shall not
meet all again in the same place, I am sure of that."
Lord Lovat was reconducted to the Tower that
prison on entering which he had boasted, that if he
were not old and infirm they would have found it
difficult to have kept him there. The people told him
they had kept those who were much younger. " Yes/'
he answered, " but they had not broken so many gaols
as I have."
He now met his approaching fate with a composure
that it is difficult not to admire, even in Lovat. And
yet reflection may perhaps suggest that the insensi-
bility to the fear of death an emotion incident to
conscientious minds bespeaks, in one whose responsi-
bilities had been so grossly abused, an insensibility
springing from utter depravity. Let us, however,
give to the wretched man every possible allowance.
He wrote, in terms of affection, a letter full of religious
sentiments to his son, after his own condemnation.
When the warrant came down for his execution, he
exclaimed, " God's will be done !" With the courtesy
that had charmed and had betrayed others all his life,
he took the gentleman who brought the warrant by
the hand, thanked him, drank his health, and assured
him that he would not then change places with any
prince in Christendom. He appears, indeed, to have
had no misgivings, or he affected to have none, as to
his eternal prospects. When the Lieutenant of the
fortress in the Tower asked him how he did ? " Do V
was his reply ; " why I am about doing very well, for
B B 2
372 SIMON FRASER,
I am going to a place where hardly any majors, and
very few lieutenant-generals go."
Some friends still remained warmly attached to this
singular man. Mr. William Fraser, his cousin, ad-
vanced a large sum of money to General Williamson,
to provide for his wants ; and, after acting as his
solicitor, attended him to the last. But Lord Lovat
felt deeply the circumstance of his having been con-
victed by his own servants : " It is shocking," he ob-
served, " to human nature. I believe that they will
carry about .with them a sting that will accompany
them to their grave ; yet I wish them no evil."
He prayed daily, and fervently ; and expressed un-
bounded confidence in the Divine mercy. " So, my
dear child," he thus wrote to his son, u do not be in
the least concerned for me ; for I bless God I have
strong reasons to hope that when it is God's will to call
me out of this world, it will be by his mercy, and the
suffering of my Saviour, Jesus Christ, to enjoy everlast-
ing happiness in the other world. I wish this may be
yours." After he had penned this remarkable letter,
he asked a gentleman who was in his room how he
liked the letter 1 The reply was, " I like it very well ;
it is a very good letter." " I think," answered Lord
Lovat, " it is a Christian letter." *
In this last extremity of his singular fortunes, the
wife, whom he had so cruelly treated, forgetful of every
thing but her Christian duty, wrote to him, and
offered to repair immediately to London, and to go to
him in the Tower, if he desired it. But Lord Lovat
* State Trials, vol. xviii. p. 846.
LORD LOVAT. 373
returned an answer, in which, for the first time, he
adopted the language of conjugal kindness to Lady
Lovat, and refused the generous proposal, worthy of
the disinterestedness of woman's nature. He declared
that he could not take advantage of it, after all that
had occurred.*
Meantime, an application was made in favour of
Lovat by a Mr. Painter, of St. John's College, Oxford,
in the form of three letters, one of which was addressed
to the King, another to Lord Chesterfield, a third to
Henry Pelham. The courage of the intercession can
scarcely be appreciated in the present day ; in that
melancholy period, the slightest word uttered in behalf
of the Insurgents, brought on the interceder the impu-
tation of secret Jacobitism, a suspicion which even
President Forbes incurred. The petitions for mercy
were worded fearlessly ; " In a word/' thus concludes
that which was addressed to the King, " bid Lovat
live ; punish the vile traytor with life ; but let me
die ; let me bow down my head to the block, and
receive without fear the friendly blow, which, I verily
believe, will only separate the soul from its body and
miseries together."! In his letter to Lord Chesterfield
the Oxonian repeats his offer of undergoing the punish-
ment instead of the decrepid old man : " This I will
be bold to say," he adds : " I will not disgrace your
patronage by want of intrepidity in the hour of death,
and that all the devils in Milton, with all the ghastly
* Chambers's Traditions of Edinburgh, p. 12.
t Gentleman's Magazine, vol. xvii. p. 184. These letters were
afterwards collected and sold for a guinea.
374 SIMON FRASER,
ghosts of Scotsmen that fell at Culloden, if they could
be conjured there, should never move me to say, coming
upon the scaffold, ' Sir, this is terrible."* To Mr.
Pelham he declared, that " the post that he wanted
was not of the same nature with other Court prefer-
ments, for which there is generally a great number of
competitors, but may be enjoyed without a rival."
The observations which Lord Lovat made upon this
well-meant but absurd proposal, show his natural
shrewdness, or his disbelief in all that is good and
generous. " This/' he exclaimed, on being told of these
remarkable letters, " is an extraordinary man indeed.
I should like to know what countryman he is, and
whether the thing is fact. Perhaps it may be only
some finesse in politics, to cast an odium on some
particular person. In short, Sir, Fm afraid the poor
gentleman is weary of living in this wicked world ; in
that case, the obligation is altered, because a part of
the benefit is intended for himself."
In his last days, Lovat avowed himself a Roman Ca-
tholic ; but his known duplicity caused even this profes-
sion of faith to be distrusted. It is probable that like
many men who have seen much of the world, and have
mingled with those of different persuasions, Lord Lovat
attached but little importance to different modes of
faith. He was as unscrupulous in his religious pro-
fessions as in all other respects. Early in his career,
he thought it expedient to obtain the favour of the
Pope's nuncio at Paris by conforming to the Romish
* In allusion to the expression of agony and dismay used some time
before by Lord Kilmarnock.
LORD LOVAT. 375
faith. He declared to the Duke of Argyle and to Lord
Leven that he could not get the Court of St. Germains
to listen to his projects until he had declared himself
a papist. One can scarcely term this venal conversion *
an adoption of the principles of any church. The
outward symbols of his pretended persuasion had,
however, become dear to him, from habit : he carried
about his person a silver crucifix, which he often kissed.
" Observe," he said, " this crucifix ! Did you ever see a
better 1 How strongly the passions are marked, how
fine the expression is ! We keep pictures of our best
friends, of our parents, and others, but why should we
not keep a picture of Him who has done more than all
the world for us V When asked, " Of what particular
sort of Catholic are you ? A Jesuit T He answered
to the nobleman who inquired, (and whose name was
not known,) " No, no, my Lord, I am a Jansenist ;" he
then avowed his intimacy with that body of men, and
assured the nobleman, that in Us sense of being a
Roman Catholic, he " was as far from being one as his
Lordship, or as any other nobleman in the House."
" This is my faith/' he observed on another occasion,
after affirming that he had studied controversy for
three years, and then turned Roman Catholic ; " but I
have charity for all mankind, and I believe every
honest man bids fair for Heaven, let his persuasion be
what it may ; for the mercies of the Almighty are great,
and his ways past finding out."
The allusion to his funeral had something touching,
* Somerville's Reign of Queen Anne, p. 175, 4to edition ; from Lock-
liart and Macpherson.
376 SIMON FRASER,
coming from the old Highland chieftain. Almost the
solitary good trait in Lovat's character was the fondness
for his Highland home a pride in his clan a yearn-
ing to the last for the mountains, the straths, the
burns, now ravaged by the despoiler, and red with the
blood of the Frasers. " Bury me," he said, " in my
own tomb in the church of Kirk Hill ; in former days, I
had made a codicil to my will, that all the pipers from
John O'Groat's house to Edinburgh should be invited to
play at my funeral : that may not be now but still I am
sure there will be some good old Highland women to
sing a coronach at my funeral ; and there will be a
crying and clapping of hands for I am one of the
greatest of the Highland chieftains." The circum-
stance which gave him the most uneasiness was the
bill then depending for destroying the ancient privi-
leges and jurisdiction of the Highland chiefs. "For
my part," he exclaimed, when referring to the mea-
sure, " I die a martyr to my country."
He became much attached to one of his warders, and
the usual influence which he seems to have possessed
over every being with whom he came into collision,
attracted the regards of this man to him. " Go with
me to the scaffold," said Lovat and leave me not till
you see this head cut off the body. Tell my son, the
Master of Lovat, with what tenderness I have parted
from you." " Do you think," he exclaimed, on the man's
expressing some sympathy with his approaching fate,
" I am afraid of an axe I 'Tis a debt we all owe, and
what we must all pay ; and do you not think it better
to go off so, than to linger with a fever, gout, or con-
LORD LOVAT. 377
sumption \ Though my constitution is so good, I
might have lived twenty years longer had I not been
brought hither."
During the week which elapsed between the warrant
for his being brought down to the Tower, and his death,
although, says a gentleman who attended him to the
scaffold, " he had a great share of memory and under-
standing, and an awful idea of religion and a future
state, I never could observe, in his gesture or speech,
the least symptom of fear, or indeed any symptoms of
uneasiness." * "I die," was his own expression, " as a
Christian, and a Highland chieftain should do, that
is, not in my bed/' Throughout the whole of that
solemn interval, the certainty of his fate never dulled
the remarkable vivacity of his conversation, nor the
gay courtesy of his manners. No man ever died less
consistently with his life. " It is impossible," such is
the admission of a writer who detests his crimes, " not
to admire the fearlessness even of this monster in
his last moments. But, in another view, it is some-
what difficult to resist a laugh of scorn at his impu-
dent project of atoning for all the vices of a long and
odious career, by going off with a fine sentiment on his
On Thursday, the ninth of April, and the day ap-
pointed for his death, Lord Lovat awoke about three
in the morning, and then called for a glass of wine and
water, as was his custom. He took the greatest pains
that every outward arrangement should bear the marks
of composure and decency, a care which may certainly
* State Trials. f Edinburgh Review, vol. xxvi. p 132.
378 SIMON FRASER,
incline one to fancy, that the heroism of his last mo-
ments may have had effect, in part, for its aim, and
that, as Talleyrand said of Mirabeau, "he dramatized
his death." But, it must be remembered, that in those
days, it was the custom and the aim of the state pri-
soners to go to the scaffold gallantly ; and thus virtuous
men and true penitents walked to their doom attired
with the precision of coxcombs. Lord Lovat, who had
smoked his pipe merrily during his imprisonment with
those about him, and had heard the last apprisal of his
fate without emotion, was angry, when within a few
hours of death and judgment, that his wig was not so
much powdered as usual. " If he had had a suit of
velvet embroidered, he would wear it," he said, " on that
occasion." He then conversed with his barber, whose
father was a Muggletonian, about the nature of the
soul, adding with a smile, " I hope to be in Heaven
at one o'clock, or I should not be so merry now." But,
with all this loquacity, and display of what was, per-
haps, in part, the insensibility of extreme age, the
" behaviour that was said to have had neither dignity
nor gravity" * in it at the trial, had lost the buffoonish
character which characterized it in the House of Lords.
At ten o'clock, a scaffold which had been erected
near the block fell down, and several persons were
killed, and many injured ; but the proceedings of the
day went on. No reprieve, no thoughts of mercy ever
came to shake the fortitude of the old man. At
eleven, the Sheriffs of London sent to demand the
prisoner's body : Lord Lovat retired for a few moments
* Horace Walpole.
LORD LOVAT. 379
to pray ; then, saying, " I am ready, v he left his
chamber, and descended the stairs, complaining as he
went, " that they were very troublesome to him."
He was carried to the outer gate in the Governor's
coach, and then delivered to the Sheriffs, and was by
them conveyed to a house, lined with black, near to
the scaffold. He was promised that his head should
not be exposed on the four corners of the scaffold, that
practice, in similar cases, having been abandoned : and
that his clothes might be delivered with his corpse to
his friends, as a compensation for which, to the execu-
tioner, he presented ten guineas contained in a purse
of rich texture. He then thanked the Sheriff, and
saluted his friends, saying, " My blood, I hope, will
be the last shed upon this occasion."
He then walked towards the scaffold. . It was a
memorable and a mournful sight to behold the aged
prisoner ascending those steps, supported by others,
thus_ to close a life which must, at any rate, soon
have been extinguished in a natural decay. As he
looked round and saw the multitudes assembled to
witness this disgraceful execution, " God save us ! "
he exclaimed ; " why should there be such a bustle
about taking off an old grey head, that cannot get
up three steps without two men to support it 1 "
Seeing one of his friends deeply dejected, " Cheer up,"
he said, clapping him on the shoulder ; " I am not
afraid, why should you be V
He then gave the executioner his last gift, begging
him not to hack and cut about his shoulders, under
pain of his rising to reproach him. He felt the edge
380 SIMON FRASER,
of the axe, and said " he believed it would do ;"
then his eyes rested for some moments on the inscrip-
tion on his coffin. " Simon Dominus Fraser de Lovat,
decollat. April 9, 1747. ^Etat 80." He repeated the
line from Horace :
" Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori."
Then quoted Ovid: "Nam genus et proavos, et
quse non fecimus ipsi, vix ea nostra voco."
He took teave of his solicitor, Mr. William Fraser,
and presented him with his gold cane, as a mark of
his confidence and token of remembrance. Then he
embraced another relative, Mr. James Fraser. " James,"
said the old chieftain, " I am going to Heaven, but
you must continue to crawl a little longer in this
evil world." He made no address to the assembled
crowds, but left a paper, which he delivered to the
Sheriffs, containing his last protestations. After his
sentence, Lovat had accustomed his crippled limbs
to kneel, that he might be able to assume that posture
at the block. He now kneeled down, and after a
short prayer gave the preconcerted signal that he
was ready ; this was the throwing of a handkerchief
upon the floor. The executioner severed his head
from his body at one blow. A piece of scarlet cloth
received his head, which was placed in the coffin
with his body and conveyed to the Tower, where it
remained until four o'clock. It was then given to
an undertaker.
In the paper delivered to the Sheriff" there were
these words, which would have partly been deemed
excellent had they proceeded from any other man :
LORD LOVAT. 381
" As it may reasonably be expected of me that I
should say something of myself in this place, I
declare I die a true but unworthy member of the
Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church. As to my death,
I cannot look upon it but as glorious. I sin-
cerely pardon all my enemies, persecutors, and slan-
derers, from the highest to the lowest, whom God
forgive as I heartily do. I die in perfect charity with
all mankind. I sincerely repent of all my sins, and
firmly hope to obtain pardon and forgiveness for
them through the merits and passion of my blessed
Lord and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, into whose hands
I recommend my soul. Amen. LOVAT."
" In the Tower, April 9, 1747."
The public might well contrast the relentless hand
of justice, in this instance, with the mercy of Queen
Anne. She, like her brother the Chevalier, averse
from shedding blood, had spared the life of an old
man, who had been condemned in her reign for trea-
son. Many other precedents of a similar kind have
been adduced.* But this act of inhumanity was only
part of a system of what was called justice ; but which
was the justice of the heathen, and not of the Christian.
If the character of Lord Lovat cannot be deduced
from his actions, it must be impossible to understand
the motives of man from any course of life ; for never
was a career more strongly marked by the manifes-
tation of the passions, than that of this unworthy
descendant of a great line. His selfishness was
unbounded, his rapacity insatiable ; his brutality seems
* State Trials, vol. xviii. p. 326.
382 SIMON FRASER,
incredible. In the foregoing narrative, the mildest
view has been adopted of his remorseless cruelty : of
his gross and revolting indulgences, of his daily
demeanour, which is said to have outraged everything
that is seemly, everything that is holy, in private life,
little has been written. Much that was alleged to
Lovat, in this particular, has been contradicted : much
may be ascribed to the universal hatred of his name,
which tinted, perhaps too highly, his vices, in his own
day. Something may be ascribed to party prejudice,
which gladly seized upon every occasion of reproach to
an adversary. Yet still, there is too much that is
probable, too much that is too true, to permit a hope
that the private and moral character of Lord Lovat
can be vindicated from the deepest stains.
By his public life, he has left an indelible stain upon
the honour of the Highland character, upon his party,
upon his country. Of principle he had none : for
prudence, he substituted a low description of time-
serving : he never would have promoted the interests
of the Hanoverians in the reign of George the First, if
the Court of St. Germains had tolerated his alliance :
he never would have sided with Charles Edward, if the
Court of St. James's had not withdrawn its confidence.
His pride and his revengeful spirit went hand in hand
together. The former quality had nothing in it of that
lofty character which raises it almost to a virtue, in
the stern Scottish character : it was the narrow-minded
love of power which is generated in a narrow sphere.
In the different relations of his guilty life, only one
redeeming feature is apparent, the reverence which
LORD LOVAT. 383
Lord Lovat bore to his father. With that parent, seems
to have been buried every gentle affection : he regarded
his wives as slaves ; he looked upon his sons with no
other regard and solicitude, than as being heirs of his
estates. As a chief and a master, his conduct has
been variously represented ; the prevailing belief is,
that it was marked by oppression, violence, and
treachery : yet, as no man in existence ever was so
abandoned as not to have his advocates, even the truth
of this popular belief has been questioned, on the
ground that the influence which he exercised over them,
in being able to urge them to engage in whatsoever side
he pleased, argues some qualities which must have
engaged their affections.*
He who pleads thus, must, however, have forgotten
the hereditary sway of a Highland chieftain, existing in
unbroken force in those days : he must have forgotten
the sentiment which was inculcated from the cradle,
the loyalty of clanship, a sentiment which led on
the brave hearts in which it was cherished to far
more remarkable exertions and proofs of fidelity than
even the history of the Frasers can supply.
But the deepest dye of guilt appears in Lord Lovat's
conduct as a father. It was not only that he was,
in the infancy and boyhood of his eldest born, harsh
and imperious : such was the custom of the period.
It was not only that he impelled the young man into
a course which his own reason disapproved, and
which he undertook with reluctance and disgust
throwing, on one occasion, his white cockade into
* Free Examination of the Life of Lord Lovat ; London 1746.
384 SIMON FRASER,
the fire, and only complying with his father's orders
upon force. This was unjustifiable compulsion in any
father, but it might be excused on the plea of zeal
for the cause. But it appeared on the trial that
the putting forward the Master of Lovat was a mere
feint to save himself at the expense of his son, if
affairs went wrong. In Lord Lovat's letters to Presi-
dent Forbes the poor young man was made to bear
the brunt of the whole blame ; although Lord Lovat
had frequently complained of his son's backwardness
to certain members of his clan. On the trial it
appeared that the whole aim of Lord Lovat was, as
Sir John Strange expressed it, " an endeavour to avoid
being fixed himself and to throw it all upon his son,
that son whom he had, in a manner, forced into
the Rebellion."
Rare, indeed, is such a case ; with that, let these
few remarks on the character of Lord Lovat, conclude.
Human nature can sink to no lower depth of degra-
dation.
Lord Lovat left, by his first wife, three children :
Simon, Master of Lovat ; Janet, who was married to
Ewan Macpherson of Cluny, a match which Lord Lovat
projected in order to increase his influence, and to
strengthen his Highland connections. This daughter
was grandmother to the present chief, and died in
1765. He had also another daughter, Sybilla.
This daughter was one of those rare beings
whose elevated minds seem to expand in despite of
every evil influence around them. Her mother died
in giving her birth ; and Lord Lovat, perhaps from
LORD LOVAT. 385
remorse for the uncomplaining and ill-used wife,
evinced much concern at the death of his first lady,
and showed a degree of consideration for his daughters
which could hardly have been expected from one so
steeped in vice. Although his private life at Castle
Downie, after the death of their mother was disgusting
in detail, and therefore, better consigned to oblivion,
the gentle presence of his two daughters restrained the
coarse witticisms of their father, and he seemed to
regard them both with aifection and respect, and to be
proud of the decorum of their conduct and manners.
Disgusted with the profligacy which, as they grew up,
they could not but observe at Castle Downie, the young
ladies generally chose to reside at Leatwell, with Lady
Mackenzie, their only aunt ; and Lord Lovat did not
resent their leaving him, but rather applauded a
delicacy of feeling which cast so deep a reproach upon
him. He was to them a kind indulgent father.
When Janet, Lady Clunie, was confined of her first
child, he brought her to Castle Downie that she
might have the attendance of physicians more easily
than in the remote country where the Macphersons
lived. He always expressed regret that her mother
had not been sufficiently attended to when her last
child was born.
The fate of Sybilla Fraser presents her as another
victim to the hardness and impiety of Lovat. " She
possessed," says Mrs. Grant, "a high degree of sensibility,
which when strongly excited by the misfortunes of her
family, exalted her habitual piety into all the fervour
of enthusiasm." When Lovat passed through Bade-
VOL. II. C C
386 SIMON FRASER,
noch, after his apprehension, Sybilla, who was there
with Lady Clunie, followed him to Dalwhinney, and
there, in an agony of mind which may be readily con-
ceived, entreated her aged father to reconcile himself to
his Maker, and to withdraw his thoughts from the world.
She was answered by taunts at her " womanish
weakness," as Lovat called it, and by coarse ridicule of
his enemies, with a levity of mind shocking under such
circumstances. The sequel cannot be better told than
in these few simple words : " Sybilla departed almost in
despair ; prayed night and day, not for his life, but for
his soul ; and when she heard soon after, that ' he had
died and made no sign,' grief in a short time put an
end to her life." *
The Master of Lovat was implicated, as we have
shown, in the troubles of 1745. Early in that year,
he had the misery of discovering the treachery of his
father, by accidentally finding the rough draught of a
letter which Lord Lovat had written to the President,
in order to excuse himself at the expense of his son.
" Good God !" exclaimed the young man, " how can he
use me so 1 I will go at once to the President, and put
the saddle on the right horse." In spite of this provo-
cation, he did not, however, reveal his father's
treachery ; whilst Lord Lovat was balancing between
hopes and fears, and irresolute which side to choose,
the Master at last entreated, with tears in his eyes, that
he might no longer be made a tool of but might have
such orders as his father might stand by."
Having received these orders, and engaged in the
* Mrs. Grant's MS.
LORD LOVAT. 387
insurrection, the Master of Lovat was zealous in dis-
charging the duties in which he had thus unwil-
lingly engaged. His clan were among the few who
came up at Culloden in time to effect a junction with
Prince Charles. In 1746 an Act of Attainder was
passed against him ; he surrendered himself to Govern-
ment, and was confined nine months in Edinburgh
Castle. In 1750 a full and free pardon passed the
seals for him. He afterwards became an advocate,
but eventually returned to a military life, and was
permitted to enter the English army. In 1757 he
raised a regiment of one thousand eight hundred men,
of which he was constituted colonel, at the head of
which he distinguished himself at Louisbourg and
Quebec. He was afterwards appointed colonel of
the 71st foot, and performed eminent services in the
American war.
The title of his father had been forfeited, and his
lands attainted. But in 1774 the lands and estates
were restored upon certain conditions, in considera-
tion of Colonel Eraser's eminent services, and in con-
sideration of his having been involved in " the late
unnatural Rebellion " at a tender age. Colonel Eraser
rose to the rank of lieutenant-general, and died in
1782 without issue; he was generally respected and
compassionated. He was succeeded in the estates by
his half-brother, Archibald Campbell Eraser, the only
child whom Lord Lovat had by his second wife. This
young man had mingled, when a boy, from childish
curiosity among the Jacobite troops at the battle of
Culloden, and had narrowly escaped from the dragoons.
388 SIMON FRASER, LORD LOVAT.
He afterwards entered into the Portuguese service,
where he remained some years ; but, being greatly
attached to his own country, he returned. He could
not, however, conscientiously take the oaths to Govern-
ment, and therefore never had any other military
employment. " With much truth, honour, and hu-
manity/' relates Mrs. Grant, " he inherited his father's
wit and self-possession, with a vein of keen satire
which he indulged in bitter expressions against the
enemies of his family. Some of these I have seen,
and heard many songs of his composing, which showed
no contemptible power of poetic genius, although rude
and careless of polish." He sank into habits of dissipa-
tion and over-conviviality, which impaired a reputation
otherwise high in his neighbourhood, and became
careless and hopeless of himself. What little he had
to bequeath was left to a lady of his own name to
whom he was attached, and who remained unmarried
long after his death.
It is rather remarkable that Archibald Campbell
Fraser, generally, from his command of the Inverness-
shire militia, called Colonel Fraser, should survive his
five sons, and that the estates which Lord Lovat had
sacrificed so much to secure to his own line should
revert to another family of the clan Fraser, the
Frasers of Stricken, the present proprietors of Lovat
and Stricken, being in Aberdeenshire the twenty-
second in succession from Simon Fraser of Inverness-
shire/'"
* Anderson, p. 187.
END OF THE SECOND VOLUME.
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UN.VERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY
Thomson, Katherine (Byerley)
814 Keinoirs of the Jacobites of
A1T4 1715-1745
v.2
