A.D. 1644 (SEPTEMBER)-1645 (FEBRUARY).
BRITISH SOVEREIGN:--Charles I., 1625-1649.
Montrose crosses the Tay to Collace--Marches through Angus and
Mearns--Battle of Aberdeen--Supineness of the Gordons--Movements
of Argyle--Montrose retreats through Badenoch--Second march of
Montrose to the north--Battle of Fyvie--Montrose retreats to
Strathbogie--Secession from his camp--Montrose enters and wastes
Breadalbane and Argyle--Marches to Lochness--Argyle enters
Lochaber--Battle of Inverlochy.
Montrose now entertained confident expectations that many of the
royalists of the surrounding country who had hitherto kept aloof
would join him; but after remaining three days at Perth, to give
them an opportunity of rallying round his standard, he had the
mortification to find that, with the exception of Lords Dupplin
and Spynie, and a few gentlemen from the Carse of Gowrie, who came
to him, his anticipations were not to be realized. The spirits of
the royalists had been too much subdued by the severities of the
Covenanters for them all at once to risk their lives and fortunes
on the issue of what they had long considered a hopeless cause; and
although Montrose had succeeded in dispersing one army with a greatly
inferior force, yet it was well known that that army was composed of
raw and undisciplined men, and that the Covenanters had still large
bodies of well-trained troops in the field.
Thus disappointed in his hopes, and understanding that the Marquis
of Argyle was fast approaching with a large army, Montrose crossed
the Tay on the 4th of September, directing his course towards
Coupar-Angus, and encamped at night in the open fields near Collace.
His object in proceeding northward was to endeavour to raise some of
the loyal clans, and thus to put himself in a sufficiently strong
condition to meet Argyle. Montrose had given orders to the army to
march early next morning, but by break of day, and before the drums
had beat, he was alarmed by an uproar in the camp. Perceiving his
men running to their arms in a state of fury and rage, Montrose,
apprehensive that the Highlanders and Irish had quarrelled,
immediately rushed in among the thickest of the crowd to pacify
them, but to his great grief and dismay, he ascertained that the
confusion had arisen from the assassination of his valued friend Lord
Kilpont. He had fallen a victim to the blind fury of James Stewart of
Ardvoirlich, with whom he had slept the same night, and who had long
enjoyed his confidence and friendship. According to Wishart, wishing
to ingratiate himself with the Covenanters, he formed a design to
assassinate Montrose or his major-general, Macdonald; and endeavoured
to entice Kilpont to concur in his wicked project. He, therefore, on
the night in question, slept with his lordship, and having prevailed
upon him to rise and take a walk in the fields before daylight, on
the pretence of refreshing themselves, he there disclosed his horrid
purpose, and entreated his lordship to concur therein. Lord Kilpont
rejected the base proposal with horror and indignation, which so
alarmed Stewart that, afraid lest his lordship might discover the
matter, he suddenly drew his dirk and mortally wounded Kilpont.
Stewart, thereupon, fled, and thereafter joined the Marquis of
Argyle, who gave him a commission in his army.[262]
[Illustration: STUART. (Tartan)]
Montrose now marched upon Dundee, which refused to surrender. Not
wishing to waste his time upon the hazardous issue of a siege with
a hostile army in his rear, Montrose proceeded through Angus and
the Mearns, and in the course of his route was joined by the Earl
of Airly, his two sons, Sir Thomas and Sir David Ogilvie, and a
considerable number of their friends and vassals, and some gentlemen
from the Mearns and Aberdeenshire. This was a seasonable addition to
Montrose’s force, which had been greatly weakened by the absence of
some of the Highlanders who had gone home to deposit their spoils,
and by the departure of Lord Kilpont’s retainers, who had gone to
Monteith with his corpse.
After the battle of Tippermuir, Lord Elcho had retired, with his
regiment and some fugitives, to Aberdeen, where he found Lord
Burleigh and other commissioners from the convention of estates.
As soon as they heard of the approach of Montrose, Burleigh, who
acted as chief commissioner, immediately assembled the Forbeses, the
Frasers, and the other friends of the covenanting interest, and did
everything in his power to gain over to his side as many persons as
he could from those districts where Montrose expected assistance. In
this way Burleigh increased his force to 2,500 foot and 500 horse,
but some of these, consisting of Gordons, and others who were obliged
to take up arms, could not be relied upon.
When Montrose heard of these preparations, he resolved,
notwithstanding the disparity of force, his own army now amounting
only to 1,500 foot and 44 horse, to hasten his march and attack them
before Argyle should come up. On arriving near the bridge of Dee, he
found it strongly fortified and guarded by a considerable force. He
did not attempt to force a passage, but, directing his course to the
west, along the river, crossed it at a ford at the Mills of Drum,
and encamped at Crathas that night (Wednesday, 11th September). The
Covenanters, the same day, drew up their army at the Two Mile Cross,
a short distance from Aberdeen, where they remained till Thursday
night, when they retired into the town. On the same night, Montrose
marched down Dee-side, and took possession of the ground which the
Covenanters had just left.[263]
On the following morning, viz., Friday, 13th September, about
eleven o’clock, the Covenanters marched out of Aberdeen to meet
Montrose, who, on their approach, despatched a drummer to beat a
parley, and sent a commissioner along with him bearing a letter to
the provost and bailies of Aberdeen, commanding and charging them
to surrender the town, promising that no more harm should be done
to it; “otherwise, if they would disobey, that then he desired them
to remove old aged men, women, and children out of the way, and to
stand to their own peril.” Immediately on receipt of this letter,
the provost called a meeting of the council, which was attended by
Lord Burleigh, and, after a short consultation, an answer was sent
along with the commissioner declining to surrender the town. On their
return the drummer was killed by the Covenanters, at a place called
Justice Mills; which violation of the law of nations so exasperated
Montrose, that he gave orders to his men not to spare any of the
enemy who might fall into their hands. His anger at this occurrence
is strongly depicted by Spalding, who says, that “he grew mad, and
became furious and impatient.”
As soon as Montrose received notice of the refusal of the magistrates
to surrender the town, he made the necessary dispositions for
attacking the enemy. From his paucity of cavalry, he was obliged to
extend his line, as he had done at Tippermuir, to prevent the enemy
from surrounding or outflanking him with their horse, and on each
of his wings he posted his small body of horsemen along with select
parties of musketeers and archers. To James Hay and Sir Nathaniel
Gordon he gave the command of the right wing, committing the charge
of the left to Sir William Rollock, all men of tried bravery and
experience.
The Covenanters began the battle by a cannonade from their
field-pieces, and, from their commanding position, gave considerable
annoyance to the royal forces, who were very deficient in artillery.
After the firing had been kept up for some time, Lord Lewis Gordon,
third son of the Marquis of Huntly, a young man of a very ardent
disposition, and of a violent and changeable temper, who commanded
the left wing of the Covenanters, having obtained possession of some
level ground where his horse could act, made a demonstration to
attack Montrose’s right wing; which being observed by Montrose, he
immediately ordered Sir William Rollock, with his party of horse,
from the left wing to the assistance of the right. These united
wings, which consisted of only 44 horse, not only repulsed the attack
of a body of 300, but threw them into complete disorder, and forced
them to retreat upon the main body, leaving many dead and wounded on
the field. Montrose restrained these brave cavaliers from pursuing
the body they had routed, anticipating that their services might be
soon required at the other wing; and he was not mistaken, for no
sooner did the covenanting general perceive the retreat of Lord Lewis
Gordon than he ordered an attack to be made upon the left wing of
Montrose’s army; but Montrose, with a celerity almost unexampled,
moved his whole cavalry from the right to the left wing, which,
falling upon the flank of their assailants sword in hand, forced them
to fly, with great slaughter. In this affair Montrose’s horse took
Forbes of Craigievar and Forbes of Boyndlie prisoners.
The unsuccessful attacks on the wings of Montrose’s army had in no
shape affected the future fortune of the day, as both armies kept
their ground, and were equally animated with hopes of ultimate
success. Vexed, but by no means intimidated by their second defeat,
the gentlemen who composed Burleigh’s horse consulted together
as to the best mode of renewing the attack; and, being of opinion
that the success of Montrose’s cavalry was owing chiefly to the
expert musketeers, with whom they were interlined, they resolved to
imitate the same plan, by mixing among them a select body of foot,
and renewing the charge a third time, with redoubled energy. But
this scheme, which might have proved fatal to Montrose, if tried,
was frustrated by a resolution he came to, of making an instant and
simultaneous attack upon the enemy. Perceiving their horse still in
great confusion, and a considerable way apart from their main body,
he determined upon attacking them with his foot before they should
get time to rally; and galloping up to his men, who had been greatly
galled by the enemies’ cannon, he told them that there was no good
to be expected by the two armies keeping at such a distance--that in
this way there was no means of distinguishing the strong from the
weak, nor the coward from the brave man, but that if they would once
make a home charge upon these timorous and effeminate striplings,
as he called Burleigh’s horse, they would never stand their attack.
“Come on, then,” said he, “my brave fellow-soldiers, fall down upon
them with your swords and muskets, drive them before you, and make
them suffer the punishment due to their perfidy and rebellion.”[264]
These words were no sooner uttered, than Montrose’s men rushed
forward at a quick pace and fell upon the enemy, sword in hand. The
Covenanters were paralyzed by the suddenness and impetuosity of the
attack, and, turning their backs, fled in the utmost trepidation
and confusion, towards Aberdeen. The slaughter was tremendous,
as the victors spared no man. The road leading from the field of
battle to Aberdeen was strewed with the dead and the dying; the
streets of Aberdeen were covered with the bodies, and stained with
the blood of its inhabitants. “The lieutenant followed the chase
into Aberdeen, his men hewing and cutting down all manner of men
they could overtake, within the town, upon the streets, or in the
houses, and round about the town, as our men were fleeing, with broad
swords, but (_i.e._ without) mercy or remeid. Their cruel Irish,
seeing a man well clad, would first tyr (strip) him, and save his
clothes unspoiled, syne kill the man.”[265] In fine, according to
this writer, who was an eye-witness, the town of Aberdeen, which, but
a few years before, had suffered for its loyalty, was now, by the
same general who had then oppressed it, delivered up by him to be
indiscriminately plundered by his Irish forces, for having espoused
the same cause which he himself had supported. For four days did
these men indulge in the most dreadful excesses, “and nothing,”
continues Spalding, was “heard but pitiful howling, crying, weeping,
mourning, through all the streets.” Yet Guthry says that Montrose
“shewed great mercy, both pardoning the people and protecting their
goods.”[266]
It is singular, that although the battle continued for four hours
without any determinate result, Montrose lost very few men, a
circumstance the more extraordinary as the cannon of the Covenanters
were placed upon advantageous ground, whilst those of Montrose were
rendered quite ineffective by being situated in a position from
which they could not be brought to bear upon the enemy. An anecdote,
characteristic of the bravery of the Irish, and of their coolness
in enduring the privations of war, has been preserved. During the
cannonade on the side of the Covenanters, an Irishman had his leg
shot away by a cannon ball, but which kept still attached to the
stump by means of a small bit of skin, or flesh. His comrades-in-arms
being affected with his disaster, this brave man, without betraying
any symptoms of pain, thus cheerfully addressed them:--“This, my
companions, is the fate of war, and what none of us ought to grudge:
go on, and behave as becomes you; and, as for me, I am certain my
lord, the marquis, will make me a trooper, as I am now disabled
for the foot service.” Then, taking a knife from his pocket, he
deliberately opened it, and cut asunder the skin which retained the
leg, without betraying the least emotion, and delivered it to one of
his companions for interment. As soon as this courageous man was able
to mount a horse, his wish to become a trooper was complied with, in
which capacity he afterwards distinguished himself.[267]
Hoping that the news of the victory he had obtained would create a
strong feeling in his favour among the Gordons, some of whom had
actually fought against him, under the command of Lord Lewis Gordon,
Montrose sent a part of his army towards Kintore and Inverury,
the following day, to encourage the people of the surrounding
country to declare for him; but he was sadly disappointed in his
expectations. The fact is, that ever since the appointment of
Montrose as lieutenant-general of the kingdom,--an appointment which
trenched upon the authority of the Marquis of Huntly as lieutenant
of the north,--the latter had become quite lukewarm in the cause
of his sovereign; and, although he was aware of the intentions of
his son, Lord Lewis, to join the Covenanters, he quietly allowed
him to do so without remonstrance. But, besides being thus, in
some measure, superseded by Montrose, the marquis was actuated by
personal hostility to him on account of the treatment he had formerly
received from him; and it appears to have been partly to gratify
his spleen that he remained a passive observer of a struggle which
involved the very existence of the monarchy itself. Whatever may have
been Huntly’s reasons for not supporting Montrose, his apathy and
indifference had a deadening influence upon his numerous retainers,
who had no idea of taking the field but at the command of their chief.
As Montrose saw no possibility of opposing the powerful and
well-appointed army of Argyle, which was advancing upon him with slow
and cautious steps, disappointed as he had been of the aid which he
had calculated upon, he resolved to march into the Highlands, and
there collect such of the clans as were favourably disposed to the
royal cause. Leaving Aberdeen, therefore, on the 16th of September,
with the remainder of his forces, he joined the camp at Kintore,
whence he despatched Sir William Rollock to Oxford to inform the king
of the events of the campaign, and of his present situation, and to
solicit him to send supplies.
We must now advert to the progress of Argyle’s army, the slow
movements of which form an unfavourable contrast with the rapid
marches of Montrose’s army. On the 4th of September, four days
after the battle of Tippermuir, Argyle, who had been pursuing the
Irish forces under Macdonald, had arrived with his Highlanders at
Stirling, where, on the following day, he was joined by the Earl of
Lothian and his regiment, which had shortly before been brought over
from Ireland. After raising some men in Stirlingshire, he marched
to Perth upon the 10th, where he was joined by some Fife men, and
Lord Bargenny’s and Sir Frederick Hamilton’s regiments of horse,
which had been recalled from Newcastle for that purpose. With this
increased force, which now consisted of about 3,000 foot and two
regular cavalry regiments, besides ten troops of horse, Argyle left
Perth on the 14th of September for the north, and in his route was
joined by the Earl Marshal, Lords Gordon, Fraser, and Crichton, and
other Covenanters. He arrived at Aberdeen upon the 19th of September,
where he issued a proclamation, declaring the Marquis of Montrose and
his followers traitors to religion and to their king and country, and
offering a reward of 20,000 pounds Scots, to any person who should
bring in Montrose dead or alive.[268] Spalding laments with great
pathos and feeling the severe hardships to which the citizens of
Aberdeen had been subjected by these frequent visitations of hostile
armies, and alluding to the present occupancy of the town by Argyle,
he observes that “this multitude of people lived upon free quarters,
a new grief to both towns, whereof there was quartered on poor old
Aberdeen Argyle’s own three regiments. The soldiers had their baggage
carried, and craved nothing but house-room and fire. But ilk captain,
with twelve gentlemen, had free quarters, (so long as the town had
meat and drink,) for two ordinaries, but the third ordinary they
furnished themselves out of their own baggage and provisions, having
store of meal, molt and sheep, carried with them. But, the first
night, they drank out all the stale ale in Aberdeen, and lived upon
wort thereafter.”[269]
Argyle was now within half a day’s march of Montrose, but, strange
to tell, he made no preparations to follow him, and spent two or
three days in Aberdeen doing absolutely nothing. After spending
this time in inglorious supineness, Argyle put his army in motion
in the direction of Kintore. Montrose, on hearing of his approach,
concealed his cannon in a bog, and leaving behind him some of his
heavy baggage, made towards the Spey with the intention of crossing
it. On arriving at the river, he encamped near the old castle of
Rothiemurchus; but finding that the boats used in passing the river
had been removed to the north side of the river, and that a large
armed force from the country on the north of the Spey had assembled
on the opposite bank to oppose his passage, Montrose marched his
army into the forest of Abernethy. Argyle only proceeded at first as
far as Strathbogie; but instead of pursuing Montrose, he allowed his
troops to waste their time in plundering the properties and laying
waste the lands of the Gordons in Strathbogie and the Enzie, under
the very eyes of Lord Gordon and Lord Lewis Gordon, neither of whom
appears to have endeavoured to avert such a calamity. Spalding says
that it was “a wonderful unnaturalitie in the Lord Gordon to suffer
his father’s lands and friends in his own sight to be thus wreckt
and destroyed in his father’s absence;” but Lord Gordon likely had
it not in his power to stay these proceedings, which, if not done at
the instigation, may have received the approbation of his violent
and headstrong younger brother, who had joined the Covenanters’
standard. On the 27th of September, Argyle mustered his forces at
the Bog of Gicht, when they were found to amount to about 4,000 men;
but although the army of Montrose did not amount to much more than a
third of that number, and was within twenty miles’ distance, he did
not venture to attack him. After remaining a few days in Abernethy
forest, Montrose passed through the forest of Rothiemurchus, and
following the course of the Spey, marched through Badenoch to Athole,
which he reached on 1st October.
When Argyle heard of the departure of Montrose from the forest of
Abernethy, he made a feint of following him. He accordingly set his
army in motion along Spey-side, and crossing the river himself with
a few horse, marched up some distance along the north bank, and
recrossed, when he ordered his troops to halt. He then proceeded to
Forres to attend a committee meeting of Covenanters to concert a
plan of operations in the north, at which the Earl of Sutherland,
Lord Lovat, the sheriff of Moray, the lairds of Balnagown, Innes and
Pluscardine, and many others were present. From Forres Argyle went to
Inverness, and after giving some instructions to Sir Mungo Campbell
of Lawers, and the laird of Buchanan, the commanders of the regiments
stationed there, he returned to his army, which he marched through
Badenoch in pursuit of Montrose. From Athole Montrose sent Macdonald
with a party of 500 men to the Western Highlands, to invite the laird
of Maclean, the captain of clan Ranald, and others to join him.
Marching down to Dunkeld, Montrose himself proceeded rapidly through
Angus towards Brechin and Montrose.[270]
Although some delay had been occasioned in Montrose’s movements by
his illness for a few days in Badenoch, this was fully compensated
for by the tardy motions of Argyle, who, on entering Badenoch,
found that his vigilant antagonist was several days’ march a-head
of him. This intelligence, however, did not induce him in the least
to accelerate his march. Hearing, when passing through Badenoch,
that Montrose had been joined by some of the inhabitants of that
country, Argyle, according to Spalding, “left nothing of that country
undestroyed, no not one four footed beast;” and Athole shared a
similar fate.
At the time Montrose entered Angus, a committee of the estates,
consisting of the Earl Marshal and other barons, was sitting in
Aberdeen, who, on hearing of his approach, issued on the 10th of
October a printed order, to which the Earl Marshal’s name was
attached, ordaining, under pain of being severely fined, all persons,
of whatever age, sex, or condition, having horses of the value
of forty pounds Scots or upwards, to send them to the bridge of
Dee, which was appointed as the place of rendezvous, on the 14th
of October, by ten o’clock, A.M., with riders fully equipped and
armed. With the exception of Lord Gordon, who brought three troops
of horse, and Captain Alexander Keith, brother of the Earl Marshal,
who appeared with one troop at the appointed place, no attention was
paid to the order of the committee by the people, who had not yet
recovered from their fears, and their recent sufferings were still
too fresh in their minds to induce them again to expose themselves to
the vengeance of Montrose and his Irish troops.
After refreshing his army for a few days in Angus, Montrose prepared
to cross the Grampians, and march to Strathbogie to make another
attempt to raise the Gordons; but, before setting out on his
march, he released Forbes of Craigievar and Forbes of Boyndlie, on
their parole, upon condition that Craigievar should procure the
liberation of the young laird of Drum and his brother from the jail
of Edinburgh, failing which, Craigievar and Boyndlie were both
to deliver themselves up to him as prisoners before the 1st of
November. This act of generosity on the part of Montrose was greatly
admired, more particularly as Craigievar was one of the heads of the
Covenanters, and had great influence among them. In pursuance of
his design, Montrose marched through the Mearns, and upon Thursday,
the 17th of October, crossed the Dee at the Mills of Drum, with his
whole army. In his progress north, contrary to his former forbearing
policy, he laid waste the lands of some of the leading Covenanters,
burnt their houses, and plundered their effects. He arrived at
Strathbogie on the 19th of October, where he remained till the 27th,
without being able to induce any considerable number of the Gordons
to join him. It was not from want of inclination that they refused
to do so, but they were unwilling to incur the displeasure of their
chief, who they knew was personally opposed to Montrose, and who felt
indignant at seeing a man who had formerly espoused the cause of the
Covenanters preferred before him. Had Montrose been accompanied by
any of the Marquis of Huntly’s sons, they might have had influence
enough to have induced some of the Gordons to declare for him; but
the situation of the marquis’s three sons was at this time very
peculiar. The eldest son, Lord Gordon, a young man “of singular worth
and accomplishments,” was with Argyle, his uncle by the mother’s
side; the Earl of Aboyne, the second son, was shut up in the castle
of Carlisle, then in a state of siege; and Lord Lewis Gordon, the
third son, had, as we have seen, joined the Covenanters, and fought
in their ranks.
In this situation of matters, Montrose left Strathbogie on the day
last mentioned, and took up a position in the forest of Fyvie, where
he despatched some of his troops, who took possession of the castles
of Fyvie and Tollie Barclay, in which he found a good supply of
provisions, which was of great service to his army. During his stay
at Strathbogie, Montrose kept a strict outlook for the enemy, and
scarcely passed a night without scouring the neighbouring country
to the distance of several miles with parties of light foot, who
attacked straggling parties of the Covenanters, and brought in
prisoners from time to time, without sustaining any loss. These petty
enterprises, while they alarmed their enemies, gave an extraordinary
degree of confidence to Montrose’s men, who were ready to undertake
any service, however difficult or dangerous, if he only commanded
them to perform it.
When Montrose crossed the Dee, Argyle was several days’ march behind
him. The latter, however, reached Aberdeen on the 24th of October,
and proceeded the following morning towards Kintore, which he reached
the same night. Next morning he marched forward to Inverury, where
he halted at night. Here he was joined by the Earl of Lothian’s
regiment, which increased his force to about 2,500 foot, and 1,200
horse. In his progress through the counties of Angus, Kincardine,
Aberdeen, and Banff, he received no accession of strength, from the
dread which the name and actions of Montrose had infused into the
minds of the inhabitants of these counties.
The sudden movements of Argyle from Aberdeen to Kintore, and from
Kintore to Inverury, form a remarkable contrast with the slowness
of his former motions. He had followed Montrose through a long
and circuitous route, the greater part of which still bore recent
traces of his footsteps, and instead of showing any disposition
to overtake his flying foe, seemed rather inclined to keep that
respectful distance from him so congenial to the mind of one who,
“willing to wound,” is “yet still afraid to strike.” But although
this questionable policy of Argyle was by no means calculated to
raise his military fame, it had the effect of throwing Montrose, in
the present case, off his guard, and had well-nigh proved fatal to
him. The rapid march of Argyle on Kintore and Inverury, in fact, was
effected without Montrose’s knowledge, for the spies he had employed
concealed the matter from him, and while he imagined that Argyle was
still on the other side of the Grampians, he suddenly appeared within
a very few miles of Montrose’s camp, on the 28th of October.
The unexpected arrival of Argyle’s army did not disconcert Montrose.
His foot, which amounted to 1,500 men, were little more than the
half of those under Argyle, while he had only about 50 horse to
oppose 1,200. Yet, with this immense disparity, he resolved to await
the attack of the enemy, judging it inexpedient, from the want of
cavalry, to become the assailant by descending into the plain where
Argyle’s army was encamped. On a rugged eminence behind the castle
of Fyvie, on the uneven sides of which several ditches had been
cut and dikes built to serve as farm fences, Montrose drew up his
little but intrepid host; but before he had marked out the positions
to be occupied by his divisions, he had the misfortune to witness
the desertion of a small body of the Gordons, who had joined him
at Strathbogie. They, however, did not join Argyle, but contented
themselves with withdrawing altogether from the scene of the
ensuing action. It is probable that they came to the determination
of retiring, not from cowardice, but from disinclination to appear
in the field against Lord Lewis Gordon, who held a high command
in Argyle’s army. The secession of the Gordons, though in reality
a circumstance of trifling importance in itself, (for had they
remained, they would have fought unwillingly, and consequently might
not have had sufficient resolution to maintain the position which
would have been assigned them,) had a disheartening influence upon
the spirits of Montrose’s men, and accordingly they found themselves
unable to resist the first shock of Argyle’s numerous forces, who,
charging them with great impetuosity, drove them up the eminence, of
a considerable part of which Argyle’s army got possession. In this
critical conjuncture, when terror and despair seemed about to obtain
the mastery over hearts to which fear had hitherto been a stranger,
Montrose displayed a coolness and presence of mind equal to the
dangers which surrounded him. Animating them by his presence, and by
the example which he showed in risking his person in the hottest of
the fight, he roused their courage by putting them further in mind
of the victories they had achieved, and how greatly superior they
were in bravery to the enemy opposed to them. After this emphatic
appeal to their feelings, Montrose turned to Colonel O’Kean, a young
Irish gentleman, highly respected by the former for his bravery,
and desired him, with an air of the most perfect _sang froid_, to
go down with such men as were readiest, and to drive these fellows
(meaning Argyle’s men), out of the ditches, that they might be no
more troubled with them. O’Kean quickly obeyed the mandate, and
though the party in the ditches was greatly superior to the body he
led, and was, moreover, supported by some horse, he drove them away,
and captured several bags of powder which they left behind them in
their hurry to escape. This was a valuable acquisition, as Montrose’s
men had spent already almost the whole of their ammunition.
While O’Kean was executing this brilliant affair, Montrose observed
five troops of horse, under the Earl of Lothian, preparing to attack
his 50 horse, who were posted a little way up the eminence, with a
small wood in their rear. He, therefore, without a moment’s delay,
ordered a party of musketeers to their aid, who, having interlined
themselves with the 50 horse, kept up such a galling fire upon
Lothian’s troopers, that before they had advanced half way across a
field which lay between them and Montrose’s horse, they were obliged
to wheel about and gallop off.
Montrose’s men became so elated with their success that they could
scarcely be restrained from leaving their ground and making a general
attack upon the whole of Argyle’s army; but although Montrose did
not approve of this design, he disguised his opinion, and seemed
rather to concur in the views of his men, telling them, however, to
be so far mindful of their duty as to wait till he should see the
fit moment for ordering the attack. Argyle remained till the evening
without attempting anything farther, and then retired to a distance
of about three miles across the Spey; his men passed the night under
arms. The only person of note killed in these skirmishes was Captain
Keith, brother of the Earl Marshal.
Next day Argyle resolved to attack Montrose, with the view of driving
him from his position. He was induced to come to this determination
from a report, too well founded, which had reached him, that
Montrose’s army was almost destitute of ammunition;--indeed, he had
compelled the inhabitants of all the surrounding districts to deliver
up every article of pewter in their possession for the purpose of
being converted into ammunition; but this precarious supply appears
soon to have been exhausted.[271] On arriving at the bottom of the
hill, he changed his resolution, not judging it safe, from the
experience of the preceding day, to hazard an attack. Montrose, on
the other hand, agreeably to his original plan, kept his ground, as
he did not deem it advisable to expose his men to the enemy’s cavalry
by descending from the eminence. With the exception of some trifling
skirmishes between the advanced posts, the main body of both armies
remained quiescent during the whole day. Argyle again retired in the
evening to the ground he had occupied the preceding night, whence
he returned the following day, part of which was spent in the same
manner as the former; but long before the day had expired he led off
his army, “upon fair day light,” says Spalding, “to a considerable
distance, leaving Montrose to effect his escape unmolested.”
Montrose, thus left to follow any course he pleased, marched off
after nightfall towards Strathbogie, plundering Turriff and Rothiemay
house in his route. He selected Strathbogie as the place of his
retreat on account of the ruggedness of the country and of the
numerous dikes with which it was intersected, which would prevent
the operations of Argyle’s cavalry, and where he intended to remain
till joined by Macdonald, whom he daily expected from the Highlands
with a reinforcement. When Argyle heard of Montrose’s departure on
the following morning, being the last day of October, he forthwith
proceeded after him with his army, thinking to bring him to action in
the open country, and encamped at Tullochbeg on the 2d of November,
where he drew out his army in battle array. He endeavoured to bring
Montrose to a general engagement, and, in order to draw him from a
favourable position he was preparing to occupy, Argyle sent out a
skirmishing party of his Highlanders; but they were soon repulsed,
and Montrose took possession of the ground he had selected.
Baffled in all his attempts to overcome Montrose by force of
arms, Argyle, whose talents were more fitted for the intrigues of
the cabinet than the tactics of the field, had now recourse to
negotiation, with the view of effecting the ruin of his antagonist.
For this purpose he proposed a cessation of arms, and that he and
Montrose should hold a conference, previous to which arrangements
should be entered into for their mutual security. Montrose knew
Argyle too well to place any reliance upon his word, and as he had
no doubt that Argyle would take advantage, during the proposed
cessation, to tamper with his men and endeavour to withdraw them from
their allegiance, he called a council of war, and proposed to retire
without delay to the Highlands. The council at once approved of this
suggestion, whereupon Montrose resolved to march next night as far
as Badenoch; and that his army might be able to accomplish such a
long journey within the time fixed, he immediately sent off all his
heavy baggage under a guard, and ordered his men to keep themselves
prepared as if to fight a battle the next day.[272] Scarcely,
however, had the carriages and heavy baggage been despatched, when
an event took place which greatly disconcerted Montrose. This was
nothing less than the desertion of his friend Colonel Sibbald
and some of his officers, who went over to the enemy. They were
accompanied by Sir William Forbes of Craigievar, who, having been
unable to fulfil the condition on which he was to obtain his ultimate
liberation, had returned two or three days before to Montrose’s
camp. This distressing occurrence induced Montrose to postpone his
march for a time, as he was quite certain that the deserters would
communicate his plans to Argyle. Ordering, therefore, back the
baggage he had sent off, he resumed his former position, in which he
remained four days, as if he there intended to take up his winter
quarters.
In the meantime Montrose had the mortification to witness the
defection of almost the whole of his officers, who were very
numerous, for, with the exception of the Irish and Highlanders, they
outnumbered the privates from the Lowlands. The bad example which
had been set by Sibbald, the intimate friend of Montrose, and the
insidious promises of preferment held out to them by Argyle, induced
some, whose loyalty was questionable, to adopt this course; but the
idea of the privations to which they would be exposed in traversing,
during winter, among frost and snow, the dreary and dangerous regions
of the Highlands, shook the constancy of others, who, in different
circumstances, would have willingly exposed their lives for their
sovereign. Bad health, inability to undergo the fatigue of long and
constant marches--these and other excuses were made to Montrose as
the reasons for craving a discharge from a service which had now
become more hazardous than ever. Montrose made no remonstrance, but
with looks of high disdain which betrayed the inward workings of
a proud and unsubdued mind, indignant at being thus abandoned at
such a dangerous crisis, readily complied with the request of every
man who asked permission to retire. The Earl of Airly, now sixty
years of age and in precarious health, and his two sons, Sir Thomas
and Sir David Ogilvie, out of all the Lowlanders, alone remained
faithful to Montrose, and could, on no account, be prevailed upon to
abandon him. Among others who left Montrose on this occasion, was
Sir Nathaniel Gordon, who, it is said, went over to Argyle’s camp in
consequence of a concerted plan between him and Montrose, for the
purpose of detaching Lewis Gordon from the cause of the Covenanters,
a conjecture which seems to have originated in the subsequent conduct
of Sir Nathaniel and Lord Lewis, who joined Montrose the following
year.
Montrose, now abandoned by all his Lowland friends, prepared for his
march, preparatory to which he sent off his baggage as formerly; and
after lighting some fires for the purpose of deceiving the enemy,
took his departure on the evening of the 6th of November, and arrived
about break of day at Balveny. After remaining a few days there to
refresh his men, he proceeded through Badenoch, and descended by
rapid marches into Athole, where he was joined by Macdonald and John
Muidartach, the captain of the Clanranald, the latter of whom brought
500 of his men along with him. He was also reinforced by some small
parties from the neighbouring Highlands, whom Macdonald had induced
to follow him.
In the meantime Argyle, after giving orders to his Highlanders to
return home, went himself to Edinburgh, where he “got but small
thanks for his service against Montrose.”[273] Although the Committee
of Estates, out of deference, approved of his conduct, which some of
his flatterers considered deserving of praise because he “had shed no
blood;”[274] yet the majority had formed a very different estimate of
his character, during a campaign which had been fruitful neither of
glory nor victory. Confident of success, the heads of the Covenanters
looked upon the first efforts of Montrose in the light of a desperate
and forlorn attempt, rashly and inconsiderately undertaken, and
which they expected would be speedily put down; but the results of
the battles of Tippermuir, Aberdeen, and Fyvie, gave a new direction
to their thoughts, and the royalists, hitherto contemned, began now
to be dreaded and respected. In allusion to the present “posture of
affairs,” it is observed by Guthry, that “many who had formerly been
violent, began to talk moderately of business, and what was most
taken notice of, was the lukewarmness of many amongst the ministry,
who now in their preaching had begun to abate much of their former
zeal.”[275] The early success of Montrose had indeed caused some
misgivings in the minds of the Covenanters; but as they all hoped
that Argyle would change the tide of war, they showed no disposition
to relax in their severities towards those who were suspected of
favouring the cause of the king. The signal failure, however, of
Argyle’s expedition, and his return to the capital, quite changed,
as we have seen, the aspect of affairs, and many of those who had
been most sanguine in their calculations regarding the result of the
struggle, began now to waver and to doubt.
While Argyle was passing his time in Edinburgh, Montrose was
meditating a terrible blow at Argyle himself to revenge the cruelties
he had exercised upon the royalists, and to give confidence to the
clans in Argyle’s neighbourhood. These had been hitherto prevented
from joining Montrose’s standard from a dread of Argyle, who having
always a body of 5,000 or 6,000 Highlanders at command, had kept
them in such complete subjection that they dared not, without the
risk of absolute ruin, espouse the cause of their sovereign. The
idea of curbing the power of a haughty and domineering chief whose
word was a law to the inhabitants of an extensive district, ready to
obey his cruel mandates at all times, and the spirit of revenge, the
predominating characteristic of the clans, smoothed the difficulties
which presented themselves in invading a country made almost
inaccessible by nature, and rendered still more unapproachable by
the severities of winter. The determination of Montrose having thus
met with a willing response in the breasts of his men, he lost no
time in putting them in motion. Dividing his army into two parts, he
himself marched with the main body, consisting of the Irish and the
Athole-men, to Loch Tay, whence he proceeded through Breadalbane.
The other body, composed of the clan Donald and other Highlanders,
he despatched by a different route, with instructions to meet him
at an assigned spot on the borders of Argyle. The country through
which both divisions passed, being chiefly in possession of Argyle’s
kinsmen or dependants, was laid waste, particularly the lands of
Campbell of Glenorchy.
When Argyle heard of the ravages committed by Montrose’s army on the
lands of his kinsmen, he hastened home from Edinburgh to his castle
at Inverary, and gave orders for the assembling of his clan, either
to repel any attack that might be made on his own country, or to
protect his friends from future aggression. It is by no means certain
that he anticipated an invasion from Montrose, particularly at such a
season of the year, and he seemed to imagine himself so secure from
attack, owing to the intricacy of the passes leading into Argyle,
that although a mere handful of men could have effectually opposed
an army much larger than that of Montrose, he took no precautions to
guard them. So important indeed did he himself consider these passes
to be, that he had frequently declared that he would rather forfeit
a hundred thousand crowns, than that an enemy should know the passes
by which an armed force could penetrate into Argyle.[276]
While thus reposing in fancied security in his impregnable
stronghold, and issuing his mandates for levying his forces, some
shepherds arrived in great terror from the hills, and brought him
the alarming intelligence that the enemy, whom he had imagined were
about a hundred miles distant, were within two miles of his own
dwelling. Terrified at the unexpected appearance of Montrose, whose
vengeance he justly dreaded, he had barely self-possession left to
concert measures for his own personal safety, by taking refuge on
board a fishing boat in Loch Fyne, in which he sought his way to the
Lowlands, leaving his people and country exposed to the merciless
will of an enemy thirsting for revenge. The inhabitants of Argyle
being thus abandoned by their chief, made no attempt to oppose
Montrose, who, the more effectually to carry his plan for pillaging
and ravaging the country into execution, divided his army into three
parties, under the respective orders of the captain of clan Ranald,
Macdonald, and himself. For upwards of six weeks, viz., from the 13th
of December, 1644, till nearly the end of January following, these
different bodies traversed the whole country without molestation,
burning, wasting, and destroying every thing which came within their
reach. Nor were the people themselves spared, for although it is
mentioned by one writer that Montrose “shed no blood in regard that
all the people (following their lord’s laudable example) delivered
themselves by flight also,”[277] it is evident from several
contemporary authors that the slaughter must have been immense.[278]
In fact, before the end of January, the face of a single male
inhabitant was not to be seen throughout the whole extent of Argyle
and Lorn, the whole population having been either driven out of these
districts, or taken refuge in dens and caves known only to themselves.
Having thus retaliated upon Argyle and his people in a tenfold degree
the miseries which he had occasioned in Lochaber and the adjoining
countries, Montrose left Argyle and Lorn, passing through Glencoe
and Lochaber on his way to Lochness. On his march eastwards he was
joined by the laird of Abergeldie, the Farquharsons of the Braes of
Mar, and by a party of the Gordons. The object of Montrose, by this
movement, was to seize Inverness, which was then protected by only
two regiments, in the expectation that its capture would operate as a
stimulus to the northern clans, who had not yet declared themselves.
This resolution was by no means altered on reaching the head of
Lochness, where he learned that the Earl of Seaforth was advancing
to meet him with an army of 5,000 horse and foot, which he resolved
to encounter, it being composed, with the exception of two regular
regiments, of raw and undisciplined levies.
While proceeding, however, through Abertarf, a person arrived in
great haste at Kilcummin, the present fort Augustus, who brought
him the surprising intelligence that Argyle had entered Lochaber
with an army of 3,000 men; that he was burning and laying waste
the country, and that his head-quarters were at the old castle of
Inverlochy. After Argyle had effected his escape from Inverary, he
had gone to Dumbarton, where he remained till Montrose’s departure
from his territory. While there, a body of covenanting troops who
had served in England, arrived under the command of Major-general
Baillie, for the purpose of assisting Argyle in expelling Montrose
from his bounds; but on learning that Montrose had left Argyle,
and was marching through Glencoe and Lochaber, General Baillie
determined to lead his army in an easterly direction through the
Lowlands, with the intention of intercepting Montrose, should he
attempt a descent. At the same time it was arranged between Baillie
and Argyle that the latter, who had now recovered from his panic in
consequence of Montrose’s departure, should return to Argyle and
collect his men from their hiding-places and retreats. As it was
not improbable, however, that Montrose might renew his visit, the
Committee of Estates allowed Baillie to place 1,100 of his soldiers
at the disposal of Argyle, who, as soon as he was able to muster his
men, was to follow Montrose’s rear, yet so as to avoid an engagement,
till Baillie, who, on hearing of Argyle’s advance into Lochaber,
was to march suddenly across the Grampians, should attack Montrose
in front. To assist him in levying and organizing his clan, Argyle
called over Campbell of Auchinbreck, his kinsman, from Ireland, who
had considerable reputation as a military commander. In terms of
his instructions, therefore, Argyle had entered Lochaber, and had
advanced as far as Inverlochy, when, as we have seen, the news of his
arrival was brought to Montrose.
Montrose was at first almost disinclined, from the well-known
reputation of Argyle, to credit this intelligence, but being fully
assured of its correctness from the apparent sincerity of his
informer, he lost not a moment in making up his mind as to the course
he should pursue. He might have instantly marched back upon Argyle
by the route he had just followed; but as the latter would thus get
due notice of his approach, and prepare himself for the threatened
danger, Montrose resolved upon a different plan. The design he
conceived could only have originated in the mind of such a bold
and enterprising commander as Montrose, before whose daring genius
difficulties hitherto deemed insurmountable at once disappeared.
The idea of carrying an army over dangerous and precipitous
mountains, whose wild and frowning aspect seemed to forbid the
approach of human footsteps, and in the middle of winter, too, when
the formidable perils of the journey were greatly increased by the
snow, however chimerical it might have seemed to other men, appeared
quite practicable to Montrose, whose sanguine anticipations of the
advantages to be derived from such an extraordinary exploit, more
than counterbalanced, in his mind, the risks to be encountered.
The distance between the place where Montrose received the news of
Argyle’s arrival and Inverlochy is about thirty miles; but this
distance was considerably increased by the devious track which
Montrose followed. Marching along the small river Tarf in a southerly
direction, he crossed the hills of Lairie Thierard, passed through
Glenroy, and after traversing the range of mountains between the Glen
and Ben Nevis, he arrived in Glennevis before Argyle had the least
notice of his approach. Before setting out on his march, Montrose
had taken the wise precaution of placing guards upon the common road
leading to Inverlochy, to prevent intelligence of his movements being
carried to Argyle, and he had killed such of Argyle’s scouts as he
had fallen in with in the course of his march. This fatiguing and
unexampled journey had been performed in little more than a night and
a day, and when, in the course of the evening, Montrose’s men arrived
in Glennevis, they found themselves so weary and exhausted that they
could not venture to attack the enemy. They therefore lay under arms
all night, and refreshed themselves as they best could till next
morning. As the night was uncommonly clear, it being moonlight, the
advanced posts of both armies kept up a small fire of musketry, which
led to no result.
In the meantime Argyle, after committing his army to the charge of
his cousin, Campbell of Auchinbreck, with his customary prudence,
went, during the night, on board a boat in the loch, excusing himself
for this apparent pusillanimous act by alleging his incapacity to
enter the field of battle in consequence of some contusions he had
received by a fall two or three weeks before; but his enemies averred
that cowardice was the real motive which induced him to take refuge
in his galley, from which he witnessed the defeat and destruction
of his army. This somewhat suspicious action of Argyle--and it was
not the only time he provided for his personal safety in a similar
manner--is accounted for in the following (? ironical) way by the
author of _Britane’s Distemper_ (p. 100):--
“In this confusion, the commanders of there armie lightes wpon
this resolution, not to hazart the marquisse owne persone; for it
seems not possible that Ardgylle himselfe, being a nobleman of such
eminent qualitie, a man of so deepe and profund judgement, one that
knew so weell what belongeth to the office of a generall, that any
basse motion of feare, I say, could make him so wnsensible of the
poynt of honour as is generally reported. Nether will I, for my owne
pairt, belieue it; but I am confident that those barrones of his
kinred, wha ware captanes and commanderes of the armie, feareing the
euent of this battelle, for diuers reasones; and one was, that Allan
M’Collduie, ane old fox, and who was thought to be a seer, had told
them that there should be a battell lost there by them that came
first to seike battell; this was one cause of there importunitie with
him that he should not come to battell that day; for they sawe that
of necessitie they most feght, and would not hazart there cheife
persone, urgeing him by force to reteire to his galay, which lay
hard by, and committe the tryall of the day to them; he, it is to be
thought, with great difficultie yeelding to there request, leaues
his cusine, the laird of Auchinbreike, a most walorous and braue
gentleman, to the generall commande of the armie, and takes with
himselfe only sir James Rollocke, his brother in lawe, sir Jhone
Wachope of Nithrie, Mr. Mungo Law, a preacher. It is reported those
two last was send from Edinburgh with him to beare witnesse of the
expulsion of those rebelles, for so they ware still pleased to terme
the Royalistes.”
It would appear that it was not until the morning of the battle that
Argyle’s men were aware that it was the army of Montrose that was so
near them, as they considered it quite impossible that he should have
been able to bring his forces across the mountains; they imagined
that the body before them consisted of some of the inhabitants of
the country, who had collected to defend their properties. But they
were undeceived when, in the dawn of the morning, the warlike sound
of Montrose’s trumpets, resounding through the glen where they lay,
and reverberating from the adjoining hills, broke upon their ears.
This served as the signal to both armies to prepare for battle.
Montrose drew out his army in an extended line. The right wing
consisted of a regiment of Irish, under the command of Macdonald,
his major-general; the centre was composed of the Athole-men, the
Stuarts of Appin, the Macdonalds of Glencoe, and other Highlanders,
severally under the command of Clanranald, M’Lean, and Glengary; and
the left wing consisted of some Irish, at the head of whom was the
brave Colonel O’Kean. A body of Irish was placed behind the main body
as a reserve, under the command of Colonel James M’Donald, alias
O’Neill. The general of Argyle’s army formed it in a similar manner.
The Lowland forces were equally divided, and formed the wings,
between which the Highlanders were placed. Upon a rising ground,
behind this line, General Campbell drew up a reserve of Highlanders,
and placed a field-piece. Within the house of Inverlochy, which was
only about a pistol-shot from the place where the army was formed,
he planted a body of 40 or 50 men to protect the place, and to
annoy Montrose’s men with discharges of musketry.[279] The account
given by Gordon of Sallagh, that Argyle had transported the half
of his army over the water at Inverlochy, under the command of
Auchinbreck, and that Montrose defeated this division, while Argyle
was prevented from relieving it with the other division, from the
intervening of “an arm of the sea, that was interjected betwixt them
and him,”[280] is probably erroneous, for the circumstance is not
mentioned by any other writer of the period, and it is well known,
that Argyle abandoned his army, and witnessed its destruction from
his galley,--circumstances which Gordon altogether overlooks.
It was at sunrise, on Sunday, the 2d of February, 1645, that
Montrose, after having formed his army in battle array, gave orders
to his men to advance upon the enemy. The left wing of Montrose’s
army, under the command of O’Kean, was the first to commence the
attack, by charging the enemy’s right. This was immediately followed
by a furious assault upon the centre and left wing of Argyle’s army,
by Montrose’s right wing and centre. Argyle’s right wing not being
able to resist the attack of Montrose’s left, turned about and fled,
which circumstance had such a discouraging effect on the remainder
of Argyle’s troops, that after discharging their muskets, the whole
of them, including the reserve, took to their heels. The rout now
became general. An attempt was made by a body of about 200 of the
fugitives, to throw themselves into the castle of Inverlochy, but a
party of Montrose’s horse prevented them. Some of the flying enemy
directed their course along the side of Loch-Eil, but all these
were either killed or drowned in the pursuit. The greater part,
however, fled towards the hills in the direction of Argyle, and were
pursued by Montrose’s men, to the distance of about eight miles. As
no resistance was made by the defeated party in their flight, the
carnage was very great, being reckoned at 1,500 men. Many more would
have been cut off had it not been for the humanity of Montrose, who
did every thing in his power to save the unresisting enemy from
the fury of his men, who were not disposed to give quarter to the
unfortunate Campbells. Having taken the castle, Montrose not only
treated the officers, who were from the Lowlands, with kindness, but
gave them their liberty on parole.
[Illustration: Inverlochy Castle.--From M’Culloch’s celebrated
picture in the Edinburgh National Gallery.]
Among the principal persons who fell on Argyle’s side, were the
commander, Campbell of Auchinbreck, Campbell of Lochnell, the eldest
son of Lochnell, and his brother, Colin; M’Dougall of Rara and his
eldest son; Major Menzies, brother to the laird, (or Prior as he
was called) of Achattens Parbreck; and the provost of the church of
Kilmun. The loss on the side of Montrose was extremely trifling.
The number of wounded is indeed not stated, but he had only three
privates killed. He sustained, however, a severe loss in Sir Thomas
Ogilvie, son of the Earl of Airly, who died a few days after the
battle, of a wound he received in the thigh. Montrose regretted
the death of this steadfast friend and worthy man, with feelings
of real sorrow, and caused his body to be interred in Athole with
due solemnity.[281] Montrose immediately after the battle sent a
messenger to the king with a letter, giving an account of it, at
the conclusion of which he exultingly says to Charles, “Give me
leave, after I have reduced this country, and conquered from Dan
to Beersheba, to say to your Majesty, as David’s general to his
master, Come thou thyself, lest this country be called by my name.”
When the king received this letter, the royal and parliamentary
commissioners were sitting at Uxbridge negotiating the terms of a
peace; but Charles, induced by the letter, imprudently broke off the
negotiation, a circumstance which led to his ruin.
FOOTNOTES:
[262] Wishart, p. 84.--Stewart’s descendant, the late Robert Stewart
of Ardvoirlich, gives an account of the above incident, founded
on a “constant tradition in the family,” tending to show that his
ancestor was not so much a man of base and treacherous character, as
of “violent passions and singular temper.” James Stewart, it is said,
was so irritated at the Irish, for committing some excesses on lands
belonging to him, that he challenged their commander, Macdonald, to
single combat. By advice of Kilpont, Montrose arrested both, and
brought about a seeming conciliation. When encamped at Collace,
Montrose gave an entertainment to his officers, on returning from
which Ardvoirlich, “heated with drink, began to blame Kilpont for the
part he had taken in preventing his obtaining redress, and reflecting
against Montrose for not allowing him what he considered proper
reparation. Kilpont, of course, defended the conduct of himself and
his relative, Montrose, till their argument came to high words, and
finally, from the state they were both in, by an easy transition, to
blows, when Ardvoirlich, with his dirk, struck Kilpont dead on the
spot.” He fled, leaving his eldest son, Henry, mortally wounded at
Tippermuir, on his death-bed.--Introd. to _Legend of Montrose_.
[263] Spalding, vol. ii. p. 405.
[264] Wishart, p. 89.
[265] Spalding, vol. ii. 407.
[266] Memoirs, p. 131.
[267] Wishart, p. 91.
[268] Spalding, vol. ii. p. 414.
[269] Idem.
[270] Guthry, p. 231.
[271] Wishart, p. 100.
[272] Wishart, p. 102.
[273] Spalding, vol. ii. p. 287.
[274] Guthry, p. 134.
[275] Memoirs, pp. 134-5.
[276] Wishart, p. 107.
[277] Guthry, p. 136.
[278] Spalding, vol. ii. p. 442; Wishart, p. 108--_Red Book of
Clanranald_.
[279] Spalding, vol. ii. p. 444.
[280] _Continuation_, p. 522.
[281] Spalding, vol. ii. p. 445.--Wishart, p. 111, et seq.--Guthry,
p. 140.