General Mackay halted the host on a spacious green plain which lies at
the meeting of the Tummel and the Gary, and which the Highlanders call
Fascali, because, as the name in their tongue signifies, no trees are
growing thereon. This place is the threshold of the Pass of
Killicrankie, through the dark and woody chasms of which the impatient
waters of the Gary come with hoarse and wrathful mutterings and murmurs.
The hills and mountains around are built up in more olden and antic
forms than those of our Lowland parts, and a wild and strange solemnity
is mingled there with much fantastical beauty, as if, according to the
minstrelsy of ancient times, sullen wizards and gamesome fairies had
joined their arts and spells to make a common dwelling-place.
As the soldiers spread themselves over the green bosom of Fascali, and
piled their arms and furled their banners, and laid their drums on the
ground, and led their horses to the river, the General sent forward a
scout through the Pass to discover the movements of Claverhouse, having
heard that he was coming from the castle of Blair-Athol, to prevent his
entrance into the Highlands.
The officer sent to make the espial had not been gone above half an hour
when he came back in great haste to tell that the Highlanders were on
the brow of a hill above the house of Rinrorie, and that unless the Pass
was immediately taken possession of, it would be mastered by Claverhouse
that night.
Mackay, at this news, ordered the trumpets to sound, and as the echoes
multiplied and repeated the alarm, it was as if all the spirits of the
hills called the men to arms. The soldiers looked around as they formed
their ranks, listening with delight and wonder at the universal bravery,
and I thought of the sight, which Elisha the prophet gave to the young
man at Dothan, of the mountains covered with horses and chariots of fire
for his defence against the host of the King of Syria; and I went
forward with the confidence of assured victory.
As we issued forth from the Pass into the wide country, extending
towards Lude and Blair-Athol, we saw, as the officer had reported, the
Highland hosts of Claverhouse arrayed along the lofty brow of the
mountain, above the house of Rinrorie, their plaids waving in the breeze
on the hill and their arms glittering to the sun.
Mackay directed the troops, at crossing a raging brook called the
Girnaig, to keep along a flat of land above the house of Rinrorie, and
to form, in order of battle, on the field beyond the garden, and under
the hill where the Highlanders were posted; the baggage and camp
equipages he at the same time ordered down into a plain that lies
between the bank on the crown of which the house stands and the river
Gary. An ancient monumental stone in the middle of the lower plain
shows, that in some elder age a battle had been fought there, and that
some warrior of might and fame had fallen.
In taking his ground on that elevated shelf of land, Mackay was minded
to stretch his left wing to intercept the return of the Highlanders
towards Blair, and, if possible, oblige them to enter the Pass of
Killicrankie, by which he would have cut them off from their resources
in the North, and so perhaps mastered them without any great slaughter.
But Claverhouse discerned the intent of his movement, and before our
covenanted host had formed their array, it was evident that he was
preparing to descend; and as a foretaste of the vehemence wherewith the
Highlanders were coming, we saw them rolling large stones to the brow of
the hill.
In the meantime the house of Rinrorie having been deserted by the
family, the lady, with her children and maidens, had fled to Lude or
Struan, Mackay ordered a party to take possession of it, and to post
themselves at the windows which look up the hill. I was among those who
went into the house, and my station was at the easternmost window, in a
small chamber which is entered by two doors,--the one opening from the
stair-head, and the other from the drawing-room. In this situation we
could see but little of the distribution of the army or the positions
that Mackay was taking, for our view was confined to the face of the
hill whereon the Highlanders were busily preparing for their descent.
But I saw Claverhouse on horseback riding to and fro, and plainly
inflaming their valour with many a courageous gesture; and as he turned
and winded his prancing war-horse, his breast-plate blazed to the
setting sun like a beacon on the hill.
When he had seemingly concluded his exhortation, the Highlanders stooped
forward and hurled down the rocks which they had gathered for their
forerunners; and while the stones came leaping and bounding with a noise
like thunder, the men followed in thick and separate bands, and Mackay
gave the signal to commence firing.
We saw from the windows many of the Highlanders, at the first volley,
stagger and fall, but the others came furiously down; and before the
soldiers had time to stick their bayonets into their guns, the broad
swords of the Clansmen hewed hundreds to the ground.
Within a few minutes the battle was general between the two armies; but
the smoke of the firing involved all the field, and we could see nothing
from the windows. The echoes of the mountains raged with the din, and
the sounds were multiplied by them in so many different places, that we
could not tell where the fight was hottest. The whole country around
resounded as with the uproar of a universal battle.
I felt the passion of my spirit return; I could no longer restrain
myself, nor remain where I was. Snatching up my carabine, I left my
actionless post at the window, and hurried down stairs, and out of the
house. I saw by the flashes through the smoke, that the firing was
spreading down into the plain where the baggage was stationed, and by
this I knew that there was some movement in the battle; but whether the
Highlanders or the Covenanters were shifting their ground, I could not
discover, for the valley was filled with smoke, and it was only at times
that a sword, like a glance of lightning, could be seen in the cloud
wherein the thunders and tempest of the conflict were raging.