INVERSNAID PILLAGED.
On receipt of Rob Roy's letter, containing intelligence that the
cattle speculation had been a failure, and that their money was
nearly lost, his Grace the Duke of Montrose burst into a very
undignified fit of indignation, and instantly summoned his
chamberlain, John Grahame of Killearn, who was a remote relation of
his own, and in every sense a devoted and unscrupulous follower.
Poor Greumoch, whose rough and weather-beaten exterior, with homespun
Highland dress, with a target slung on his back, all combined to gain
him but little favour with Montrose's pampered valets, was speedily
bowed out by them, and had the door shut in his face, notwithstanding
the eagle's feather in his bonnet, which evinced his claim, when on
the mountain side, to be considered a gentleman.
Then the angry duke laid the letter of Rob before his chamberlain,
who in the Scottish fashion was simply named always by the title of
his property.
"Well, Killearn," said Montrose, grimly; "here is a braw business!
Ten thousand merks nearly have been made away with by this Highland
limmer, and am I to be at the loss of them?"
"Assuredly not, your grace--assuredly not," replied Killearn. "Rob
has property; there are both Inversnaid and Craigrostan."
"Craigrostan--bah! it is only a tract of grey rock and red heather,
where even the deer can scarcely find shelter," replied the duke,
contemptuously.
"But Inversnaid has a comfortable house, with steading, barn, and
byre, forbye garden and meadow ground."
"Then, by heaven, I shall take Inversnaid, though all that bear the
surname of MacGregor were on the hills to oppose me!" exclaimed the
duke, passionately.
Killearn seemed uneasy as the duke made this outburst, and he twisted
his well-powdered wig to and fro, as if the heat of it oppressed him.
He was a dapper little personage, who was always accurately attired
in a square-skirted coat, having immense cuffs and pocket flaps, a
long-bodied vest and small clothes all of black velvet. His cravat,
wig, and ruffles were always white as snow; he did not approve of
swords, and never wore one, though for more than sixty years after
this time every gentleman in Scotland did.
In one huge pocket he carried a silver snuff-box, and in the other a
small thick breeches Bible, which he produced on every occasion; for
he was one of those religious pretenders of whom Scotland has always
produced a plentiful crop.
To describe his face would be difficult; but it expressed a singular
combination of suavity, secret ferocity, cunning, and meanness.
Montrose was the chief of his name; hence Killearn regarded him as a
demigod, and all the more so because he was a duke, and one who paid
him well.
So between them it was arranged, that as Rob Roy was absent--luckily
for their scheme--possession, in the meantime, should be taken of all
the moveables in his house and on his estate; that a warrant for his
apprehension should be procured, and a reward offered for his capture
by advertisements in the Edinburgh newspapers. Such lawless and
arbitrary proceedings were as easily managed as proposed in those
days.
"Take a well-armed party of my own people with you," said the duke;
"Rob has many enemies in Dumbarton and the Lennox, who have long been
resenting his collection of black-mail, and you will find plenty of
hands willing enough to aid you in driving his men farther into the
hills. There is Stirling of Carden will help you if required; and I
dare say MacDougal's Dragoons could be marched up Loch Lomond side,
with the Buchanans of Kippen; and," he added, with a sour smile,
"perhaps the Laird of Luss may move in the matter, if he has not
forgotten the battle of Glenfruin, and the blood that yet stains the
floor of a certain vault in the castle of Bannochar. See to this,
Killearn, and bring me news when all is arranged."
Killearn was somewhat aghast on hearing this rapid sketch of a
campaign in which he was to figure as leader. He had no desire to
head an armed raid into the MacGregors' country if he could avoid it;
but he resolved to proceed in regular form of law; and in the duke's
name he did so, with marvellous rapidity.
All Rob Roy's farm stock and furniture, and ultimately his house and
estates, Inversnaid and Craigrostan, were unjustifiably made objects
for arrest and sale; and while he was lingering in Glasgow,
endeavouring to raise money to repay the duke, the "warrant of
distress," as it would be called in England, was enforced with great
strictness and even barbarity.
Another account of these proceedings would make it appear that Rob
was compelled to assign his possessions in mortgage to the Duke of
Montrose, under a solemn promise that they should revert to him when
he could restore the money lost in the transaction at Carlisle; that
afterwards, when his finances improved, he offered the sum for which
the two little properties were held in hand; but Montrose and
Killearn replied that, besides the principal, there was now interest
thereon, and various other expenses, so that much time would be
required to make up a statement of the whole sum, and that, in "this
equivocal manner, he was amused, and ultimately _deprived of all his
property_." Whatever their proceedings were, of the _latter fact_
there is no doubt.
With a band of well-armed followers to support the officers of the
law, Killearn appeared at the house of Inversnaid, when, fortunately
for himself and for those who accompanied him, the men of the village
were absent--some with the cattle on the mountains, others cutting
peat in the bogs; some fishing in the loch, and others hunting in the
woods.
Rob's crops of barley, rye, peas, and small black oats were all
stored in his granary; and stacks of dark brown peats, drawn from the
bog on sledges for winter fuel, were piled before the door. The
young women of the village were busy carrying manure to the fields in
conical baskets, for now the little wooden ploughs were at work on
the upland slopes; and the old people sat at their doors, knitting,
spinning, or basking in the autumn sun, that poured his yellow glory
down the rugged glen, where the voices of the children rang merrily,
for a band of bare-headed and bare-legged urchins were having a
boisterous and gleeful game, with clubs and balls, in the middle of
the clachan, when, to the terror of all, John Grahame of Killearn
appeared with his followers.
He had come up Loch Lomond, with one or two large boats, armed with
brass swivel-guns, accompanied by several of the Buchanans, and, as
some say, by Stirling of Carden, who hated Rob Roy, and dreaded him
too, as he had long and unjustly withheld the tax of black-mail.
With all his duplicity and cunning, Killearn must have been a bold
fellow in attempting to enforce, in those days of dirks and
broadswords--and more especially in the country of Rob Roy--the same
harsh measures which similar factors carry out so successfully among
the now unarmed population of the North; spreading desolation through
Rossshire, Sutherland, and Breadalbane. Yet, anomalous as it may
appear, he did so. It is said that on the night before this visit,
Rob's staghounds howled in a melancholy and ominous manner, for the
old grey Highland dog possesses a sagacity so remarkable, and an
attachment so strong for his master, that the people believe he can
foresee approaching evil and death with the eyes of a seer.
Of the interview which took place bekveen Mr. Grahame and Helen
MacGregor, only traditional accounts have been preserved; but all who
have written on the subject assert that he forcibly entered the house
of Inversnaid, and roughly and summarily expelled her, with her four
children and all her servants; and that his bearing was harsh,
brutal, and unjustifiable.
"Grahame of Killearn," says the "History of Stirlingshire,"
"over-zealous in his master's service, had recourse to a mode of
expulsion inconsistent with the rights of humanity, by insulting Mrs.
Campbell in her husband's absence."
The furniture, crops, farm-stock, food, clothing, and everything were
carried off to be sold at Glasgow or Dumbarton, and the door of the
empty house was closed upon the now homeless family. The poor huts
of Greumoch, Alaster Roy, and their more immediate followers, were
burned or levelled, that they too might be without shelter; and
re-embarking, after achieving these outrageous proceedings, Killearn,
with all his plunder, spread his sails, and proceeded down Loch
Lomond with all speed.
More than once the long Spanish gun of Rob's foster-brother covered
the dapper figure of the duke's chamberlain; but Greumoch arrested
the weapon, and bade him tarry in his vengeance till the Red
MacGregor returned.
On beholding the total ruin of her household, Helen MacGregoi is said
to have cast her plaid around her little boys, as they shrunk to her
side, and exclaimed, in a piercing voice, "Oh! St. Mary, now with
the archangels, look here!" For a time she abandoned herself to the
wildest grief; then, when thoughts more fierce and bitter came, she
wiped away her tears, and registered a terrible vow for vengeance on
their oppressors.
"It is certain," says Scott, "that she felt extreme anguish on being
expelled from the banks of Loch Lomond, and gave vent to her feelings
in a fine piece of pipe music, which she composed, and which is still
well known by the name of 'Rob Roy's Lament.'"
One of the children was sickly and feeble, and thus they were all
thrust forth upon the mountain side, in the last days of autumn, when
a Highland winter, with all its severities, was at hand, and when the
forest of pine--the badge of their name--would be their only shelter;
so Helen longed for the return of her husband, and for the vengeance
that was sure to follow!