March to July, 1689.
BRITISH SOVEREIGN:--William III., 1688-1703.
Viscount Dundee--Proceedings of the convention--General
Hugh Mackay--Attempt to apprehend Dundee, who retires
to the north--Mackay follows Dundee--Dundee joined by
Keppoch--Movements of the two commanders--Movements of Colonel
Ramsay--Disaffection among Mackay’s troops--Ruthven Castle
surrenders to Dundee--Mackay retreats down Strathspey--Followed
by Dundee--Retreat of Dundee, who disbands his forces--Mackay
returns to Edinburgh--Probabilities of success--Dundee solicits
aid from Ireland--Preparations of Mackay--Lord Murray and the
Athole-men--Departure of Mackay to Perth--Dundee marches into
Athole--Battle of Killiecrankie--Death and character of Dundee.
Before giving the details of Dundee’s insurrection, the following
short sketch will not be out of place. John Graham, Viscount Dundee,
descended from the royal line of the Stuarts by the marriage of
William, Lord Graham of Kincardine, his ancestor, with the Princess
Mary, second daughter of King Robert III., was the eldest son of
Sir William Graham of Claverhouse in Angus or Forfarshire, and was
born in 1643. Besides a royal descent, Viscount Dundee also claimed
to be descended, through the family of Morphy in Mearns, from the
illustrious house of Montrose, and was also allied to the noble
family of Northesk by his mother, Lady Jean Carnegy, who was fourth
daughter of the first earl. Young Graham entered the university
of St. Andrews in the year 1660, where, according to his partial
biographer, he made “very considerable progress” in “Humanity
and Mathematics.” He was chiefly remarkable for his enthusiastic
predilection for Highland poetry and the established order of
things. He left the university in 1670 and went to France, where
he entered as a volunteer. He afterwards transferred his services
to Holland, and received the commission of a cornet in one of the
Prince of Orange’s troops of guards. He distinguished himself at
the battle of Seneffe, in 1674, by saving the life of the prince,
who had been dismounted, and carrying him off upon his own horse.
Having been refused the command of one of the Scottish regiments
in the employment of the States, he left the Dutch service and
returned to Scotland in the year 1677, and was appointed by Charles
II. captain of one of the regiments then raising in Scotland for
the suppression of the Whigs, in which service he acquired from the
unfortunate Covenanters, on account of his severities, the unenviable
appellation of “the bloody Clavers.” The confidence which Charles
had bestowed on Captain Graham was continued by his successor James,
who, after promoting him successively to the ranks of brigadier and
major-general, raised him to the peerage under the title of Viscount
Dundee, on the 12th of November 1688, seven days after the invasion
of the Prince of Orange.
[Illustration: John Graham, Viscount Dundee.
From Original Painting in possession of the Earl of Strathmore.]
The idea of setting up a counter convention at Stirling, was
immediately abandoned on the departure of Dundee from the capital.
The Marquis of Athole, whom the adherents of the king had chosen
for their leader, showed no disposition to follow Dundee, and the
Earl of Mar, who to save his loyalty made a feint to escape by the
only guarded way, was apprehended, not unwillingly, as is supposed,
by the sentinels, and brought back, but was released on giving his
parole that he would not leave the city without the permission of
the convention. The ambiguous conduct of these two noblemen tended
to cool the ardour of the few remaining adherents of the king, some
of whom resolved to support the new order of things, whilst others,
less pliant, absented themselves wholly from the convention. That
assembly, after approving of the conduct of the English convention,
in requesting the Prince of Orange (now declared King of England)
to take upon him the administration of the affairs of that kingdom,
acknowledged their obligations to him as the assertor of their
liberties, and also entreated him to assume the management of the
affairs of Scotland.
Popular as the steps were which the convention were about to take for
settling the government of the nation, with the great body of the
people, they were not insensible to the probability of a formidable
opposition being raised to their plans by a determined band of
royalists in the north, who, headed by such a warlike and experienced
commander as Dundee, might involve the whole kingdom in a civil war.
To prepare, therefore, against such an emergency, the convention
before proceeding to the important business for which it had
assembled issued a proclamation, requiring all persons from sixteen
to sixty, and capable of bearing arms, to put themselves in readiness
to take the field when called upon; they deprived all militia
officers suspected of attachment to the king of their commissions,
and filled up the vacancies thus occasioned by others on whom they
could rely. Sir Patrick Hume, who lay under an attainder for the part
he took in Argyle’s rebellion, was appointed to the command of the
horse militia, and the Earl of Leven was nominated to the command of
a body of 800 men, raised for a guard to the city of Edinburgh.
Backed by these, and by about 1100 men of the Scotch brigade from
Holland, which arrived at Leith from England, on the 25th of
March, under General Mackay, as major-general of all the forces
in Scotland,[556] and by a force of 200 dragoons which were also
sent from England; the leaders of the convention proposed that a
committee of eight lords, eight knights, and eight burgesses, should
be appointed to prepare and report upon a plan of settling the
government.
The throne having been declared vacant, the convention, on the
motion of the Duke of Hamilton, appointed the committee to draw up
an act for settling the crown of Scotland upon William and Mary, and
they were also instructed to prepare an instrument or declaration
for preventing a recurrence of the grievances, of which the nation
complained. The Earl of Argyle on the part of the lords, Sir James
Montgomery for the knights, and Sir John Dalrymple for the burghs,
were thereupon despatched to London to offer the crown to William
and Mary, on the conditions stipulated by the convention. The
commissioners were introduced to their majesties at Whitehall, on the
11th of May, and were of course well received, but on the coronation
oath being presented to them by the Earl of Argyle, William, who
was rather disposed to support episcopacy in Scotland, demurred to
take it, as it appeared by a clause which it contained, importing
that their majesties should root out heresy, and all enemies to the
true worship of God, to lay him under an obligation to become a
persecutor. This difficulty, which it is evident was well founded,
was however got over by the commissioners declaring that such was not
the meaning or import of the oath.
The convention having thus completed the object for which it
was assembled, adjourned to the 21st of May, not however till
it had passed an act at utter variance with those principles of
constitutional liberty, which it professed to establish. By this
act the Duke of Hamilton was vested with full power and authority
to imprison any person he might suspect of disaffection to the new
government, a violent and arbitrary measure certainly, which nothing
but the extraordinary circumstances of the times could justify. The
Earl of Balcarras and Viscount Dundee were marked out as the first
victims of this unconstitutional law. The latter had been already
proclaimed an outlaw and a rebel by the convention, for absenting
himself from its meetings, but he had hitherto made no movement,
in consequence of instructions from the king, desiring him not to
take the field till a force of 5,000 foot, and 300 horse, which he
promised to send him from Ireland, should land in Scotland.
These instructions having come to the knowledge of Hamilton, hastened
his determination to arrest Balcarras and Dundee. Balcarras was
seized at his country seat, carried to Edinburgh, and imprisoned in
the common jail, from which he was afterwards transferred to the
castle after its surrender; but Dundee, who had received notice of
the approach of the party, retired from his house at Dudhope and took
refuge in the mountains.
The favourable reception which James had met with in Ireland, and
the discovery which the adherents of William in Scotland had made
of his intention to land an army in Scotland, joined to the fact
that the great body of the Highlanders, and almost the whole of the
episcopal party in the north, were hostile to the recent change
in the government, could not fail to excite alarm in the minds of
the partizans of the new dynasty. The brilliant achievements of
Montrose had shown how inadequate the peaceful inhabitants of the
south, though impelled by the spirit of religious fanaticism, were
to contend with the brave and hardy mountaineers of the north; and
as Dundee, as they were aware, was desirous of emulating his great
predecessor, and was engaged in an active correspondence with the
Highland chiefs, they must necessarily have looked forward to a long
and bloody, and perhaps a doubtful contest.
As Dundee possessed the confidence of the Highland clans,[557] and
as he looked chiefly to them for support in his attempt to restore
the exiled monarch, Viscount Tarbat, one of the ablest politicians of
the period, proposed a plan for detaching the chiefs from the cause
of James, some of whom he averred were not so inimical to William
nor so attached to James, as was supposed; but who, jealous of the
power of Argyle, were justly apprehensive that if, as appearances
indicated, that nobleman acquired an ascendency in the national
councils, he would make use of his power to oppress them, and would
obtain a revocation of the grants of certain lands which belonged
to his family, and which had been forfeited in the reign of Charles
II. Besides these reasons, there was another which was supposed
to influence others in their determination to restore the fallen
dynasty, and thereby crush the rising power of Argyle, viz. that they
were greatly in arrears to him as their superior. Tarbat, therefore,
suggested to General Mackay, that an attempt should be made, in the
first place to obtain the submission of these last by making them
an offer to discharge Argyle’s claims against their lands, which
he computed would amount to £5,000 sterling, and that a separate
offer should be made to the chief of the Macleans to make good a
transaction which had been in part entered upon between him and the
late earl for adjusting their differences. This plan was approved
of by the English government, but the affair is said to have been
marred by the appointment of Campbell of Cawdor as negotiator, who
was personally obnoxious to the chiefs. Mackay attempted to open a
correspondence with Cameron of Lochiel on the subject, but could
obtain no answer, and Macdonell of Glengary, to whom he also made a
communication, heartily despising the bribe, advised the general,
in return, to imitate the conduct of General Monk, by restoring
James.[558]
Dundee crossed the Dee, and entered the Duke of Gordon’s country,
the inhabitants of which were friendly to the cause of James, and
where he was joined by about 50 horse under the Earl of Dunfermline,
who, as has been stated, was sent north by the Duke of Gordon to
raise his vassals in support of his royal master. Whilst Dundee was
occupied in raising forces in this district, Mackay was despatched
from Edinburgh with a considerable body of troops in pursuit. Mackay
appointed the town of Dundee as the rendezvous for his troops,
being the best station he could select for keeping the adjoining
country, which was disaffected to the new government, in awe, and
whence he could send parties to the north to watch the motions of
Dundee. On arriving at Dundee, Mackay, leaving a part of his troops
there under the command of Lieutenant-colonel Livingston, proceeded
north with a body of about 500 men, consisting chiefly of dragoons,
in quest of the viscount. At Brechin he received intelligence that
Dundee, ignorant of course of Mackay’s movements, was on his return
to his seat of Glenogilvie in the braes of Angus, that he had already
passed the Cairn-a-mount, and that he was expected to pass the night
at Fettercairn, only a few miles north from Brechin. The viscount,
however, having been apprized of Mackay’s movements, recrossed the
Dee.
As soon as Mackay was informed of this retrograde movement, he
resolved to pursue Dundee, and, if possible, to overtake him before
he should have time to collect any considerable body of forces. With
a small but select body of horse and foot, therefore, he crossed the
Dee at Kincardine, in the expectation of being joined in the course
of his march by some country gentlemen who had given him assurances
of support before leaving Edinburgh. In this expectation, however,
he was sadly disappointed, for, with the exception of the Master of
Forbes, who met him after he had crossed the Dee, with a party of
40 gentlemen of his name on horseback and a body of between 500 and
600 men on foot, chiefly raw peasantry, not one of them showed any
inclination to join him. The fact was, that, with few exceptions,
the people residing to the north of the Tay, were either indifferent
to the course of events, or were opposed upon principle to any
change in the hereditary succession to the crown, which many of them
considered an infraction of the Divine law, and which they believed
no misconduct on the part of the king could justify. No man knew
these things better than Dundee, who calculated that by means of this
feeling he would soon be able to arouse the war-like north against
the more peaceful south. But valuable as such a body of auxiliaries
as that brought by the Master of Forbes may be supposed to have been
under these circumstances, Mackay, who had been accustomed to the
finest troops in Europe, considered that they would be of no service
to him, as, according to his own account, they were “ill armed,”
and appeared “little like the work” for which they were intended.
He therefore declined the services of the Forbeses in the meantime,
and after thanking the master for having brought them together, he
ordered him to dismiss them to their homes, with instructions that
they should re-assemble whenever a necessity occurred for defending
their own country against the inroads of Dundee.
Having received intelligence of Dundee’s route through Strathdon
towards Strathbogie, Mackay continued his march in that direction
through Aberdeenshire and Moray. On arriving at Strathbogie, he
was informed that Dundee had crossed the Spey with about 150 horse
without opposition, although Mackay had given particular instruction
to the laird of Grant, while in Edinburgh, to occupy all the fords of
that river. Mackay also learned, on the following day, by a letter
sent to him by the magistrates of Elgin, which had been addressed
to them by Dundee, that the viscount was at Inverness, that he had
been there joined by Macdonald of Keppoch at the head of 1,000
Highlanders, and that he intended to make Elgin his head-quarters
preparatory to an attack upon Mackay. The accession of the Macdonalds
was of immense importance to Dundee, and was as seasonable as
unexpected. A deadly feud had for some time existed between Macdonald
and Mackintosh, arising out of certain claims by the former upon
the lands of the latter; and to such a pitch of armed violence did
Keppoch carry his pretensions, that James II. felt himself called
upon to interfere, by issuing a commission of fire and sword against
him as a rebel. Keppoch, taking advantage of the unsettled state of
the government, renewed his claims against Mackintosh; and having
defeated the Mackintoshes in battle, he had advanced to Inverness,
the inhabitants of which had supported the Mackintoshes against him,
and was threatening to wreak his vengeance upon them if they did
not purchase forbearance by paying him a large pecuniary fine. It
was at this critical moment that Dundee arrived, who, anxious at
once to secure the aid of Keppoch and the friendship of the citizens
of Inverness, who had only a few days before proclaimed the Prince
of Orange, interposed between them and their exasperated foe, and
satisfied the latter’s supposed claims by collecting the amount of
his demands by subscription among the inhabitants.[559]
The news of the junction of the Keppoch Highlanders with Dundee,
and of their intention to march to the south, was exceedingly
disconcerting to Mackay, who had advanced into a hostile country
with a handful of troops quite incapable of resisting the powerful
force now opposed to them. The obvious and apparently most prudential
course which presented itself, was, on the approach of the enemy,
to make a sure and as slow a retreat as possible, and to bring up
the forces which he had left behind him; but Mackay, rightly judging
that a retreat, besides giving Dundee the command of a large tract of
country favourable to his views, might create an impression that his
adversary was much stronger than he really was, resolved not only to
stand firm, but even to cross the Spey, and take possession of Elgin
before Dundee should arrive there. Accordingly, after despatching
a courier to bring up his reserves from Brechin without delay, he
crossed the Spey and advanced upon Elgin, with his dragoons at a hard
trot, followed by 200 veteran foot, who were so desirous of coming to
action that they kept up with the horse the whole way from the river
to the town. From Elgin, Mackay despatched messengers to some of the
principal Whig proprietors in Moray, Ross, and Sutherland, desiring
them to prepare themselves for joining him as soon as they should
receive his orders.
Mackay lay a few days at Elgin in expectation of Dundee’s advance;
but as the latter did not appear, Mackay, who had just received a
reinforcement of horse from Brechin, left Elgin and took the road to
Inverness. When he reached Forres, he ascertained that Dundee had
left Inverness, and had crossed the heights of Badenoch on his way to
Athole. It is said that Dundee intended to have advanced upon Elgin,
and to have engaged Mackay, but he was counteracted in his design by
the refusal of a party of Camerons, who were under Keppoch, to march
without the consent of their chief, their real motive apparently
being that they were desirous of securing what booty they had taken.
Mackay continued his march to Inverness, where he was joined by 500
of the Mackays, Grants, and Rosses. From Inverness, he despatched
couriers to the adherents of the new government in the north to join
him; and at the same time sent an express to Colonel Balfour at
Edinburgh, to despatch Colonel Ramsay north with a select body of
600 men to be drawn from the Dutch regiments. To effect as speedy a
junction with him as possible, Mackay directed that Ramsay should
march through Athole and Badenoch. These transactions, Burton[560]
thinks happened probably about the beginning of May.
Dundee, on the other hand, was no less busy in his preparations
for the ensuing campaign. He never ceased to carry on an active
correspondence with many of the Highland chieftains whose confidence
he possessed; and on his march through Badenoch he received the
most gratifying assurances of support from the gentlemen of that
country, with the exception of Mackintosh, who had taken offence at
Dundee. Having fixed upon Lochaber as the most central and convenient
district for mustering his forces, Dundee appointed the friends of
King James to assemble there on the 18th of May, and in the meantime
he descended into Athole, with a body of 150 horse, where he met with
a cordial reception from Stewart of Ballechan, factor or steward to
the Marquis of Athole, and from the other vassals of the marquis.
Whether Stewart and the other gentlemen of the district, in taking
this decided part, acted from a private understanding with their
chief, who still remained at Edinburgh, where he had given in an
equivocal adherence to the government, or whether they were yet
ignorant of the course he meant to follow, are questions which, for
want of information, do not admit of solution. The omission on the
part of the marquis to send instructions to Stewart to raise a body
of 400 Athole Highlanders, to oppose the passage of Dundee through
his bounds to the south, should he attempt it, to which effect he
had pledged himself to Mackay, before the latter left Edinburgh for
the north, raises a suspicion that the gentlemen of Athole acted
agreeably to the understood wishes of their chief.[561]
Being informed that the lairds of Blair and Pollock were lying in
Perth with a troop of horse, which they had raised for the service of
the government, Dundee determined to surprise them, and accordingly
left Athole, and proceeded with celerity during the night towards
Perth, which he entered unawares early next morning, and seized both
these gentlemen and two other officers in their beds, carrying them
off prisoners. He also took away 30 horses, and a sum of 9,000 merks
of the public revenue which he found in the office of the collector.
Leaving Perth, Dundee ranged through Angus, augmenting his cavalry,
and after an ineffectual attempt to surprise Lord Rollo, who was
raising a troop of horse, he appeared before the town of Dundee, then
guarded by two troops of Livingston’s dragoons. Their commander,
unwilling to encounter Dundee, shut himself up in the town, and the
viscount, after spending two nights at Dudhope, his country seat,
returned to the Highlands, to meet his friends at the appointed place
of rendezvous.
During all this time, Mackay remained at Inverness, waiting for
the arrival of Ramsay’s detachment from the south, which he had
long and anxiously looked for. In conformity with Mackay’s orders,
Colonel Balfour immediately put the troops under Colonel Ramsay in
readiness to march, but just as they were about to pass across the
Frith of Forth, from Leith to Burntisland, an alarm was created by
the appearance of a large number of vessels at the mouth of the
Frith, which were at once supposed to be a French fleet with troops
on board for the purpose of making a descent upon the coast in
support of Dundee. As the seizure of the capital, it was naturally
supposed, would be the first object of the invaders, the embarkation
of Ramsay’s detachment, which in such an event would be necessary for
its defence, was countermanded; but in two or three days the fears of
the government were dispelled, by having ascertained that the fleet
in question consisted of a number of Dutch herring vessels which
were proceeding on their annual voyage to the fishing stations on
the northern coast. This delay occasioned great embarrassment to the
operations of Mackay, and almost proved fatal to him, as Dundee was
thereby enabled to throw himself with a large force between Mackay’s
and Ramsay’s corps, and to threaten both with annihilation.
In terms of his instructions, Ramsay, after reaching Perth, proceeded
through Athole, on his way to Inverness. Though the Athole-men,
many of whom he found armed, offered no opposition to his march,
yet as every thing around him assumed a warlike appearance, and
as reports were continually brought to him that Dundee had placed
himself between him and Mackay, with a very large force, he grew
alarmed, and so strong had his fears become when within a dozen of
miles of Ruthven in Badenoch, that he resolved to return to Perth.
He had previously despatched a letter to Mackay, informing him of
his advance, and appointing a meeting at Ruthven on a given day,
but he neglected to send another express acquainting Mackay of his
design to return to Perth. The retreat of Ramsay was disorderly, and
some of his men deserted. The Athole-men, who kept hovering about
him, were desirous of attacking him, but they were prevented, though
with difficulty, by the gentlemen of the district. Mackay having
received Ramsay’s despatch, was so anxious to form a speedy junction
with the latter’s detachment, that he left Inverness the following
(Sunday) morning, taking with him only two days’ provisions. When
about half-way between Inverness and Ruthven, he received an express
from the governor of the castle, informing him of Ramsay’s retreat,
and that Dundee acting on information contained in an intercepted
despatch of Mackay’s, had entered Badenoch on Sunday morning, (the
morning of Mackay’s march from Inverness,) with an immense force,
and was within a few miles of the castle.
The first person who had met Dundee in Lochaber on the appointed day
was Glengary, who had with him a body of between 200 and 300 men. He
was followed by Macdonald of Morer, at the head of nearly 200 of Clan
Ranald’s men, and by Appin and Glencoe, with about the same number.
Dundee had been subsequently joined by Lochiel (now 60 years of age),
who had 600 men under him, and by Keppoch, at the head of 200; but
Sir Alexander Maclean, who had promised also to attend, failed to
appear.
The intelligence communicated by the commander of Ruthven castle
was exceedingly perplexing to Mackay, who must have felt keenly the
disappointment of Ramsay’s flight. He saw himself with a handful
of men surrounded by a warlike and hostile population, and within
a short march of a powerful force, which he could not singly
resist--with few friends on whom he could place much reliance. He
had, in the unfortunate situation in which he was placed, only a
choice of evils before him. To have proceeded on his march with the
view of cutting his way through the enemy, would have been, even if
practicable, an imprudent and very dangerous step, and to have taken
up a position in a district where he would have been exposed to be
surrounded and cut off from his resources, would have been equally
rash. He had, therefore, no alternative which he could prudently
adopt, but either to fall back upon Inverness, or retire down the
vale of the Spey. He preferred the latter course; for, although
such a movement would leave Inverness quite exposed to Dundee’s
army, that disadvantage would be more than counterbalanced by the
protection which would be thereby afforded to the laird of Grant’s
lands, near the borders of which Dundee was now hovering, and by the
obstruction which the interposition of Mackay’s troops would present
to any attempt on the part of Dundee to recruit his army in the Duke
of Gordon’s country. Besides, by making Strathspey the scene of his
operations, Mackay expected to be able to keep up a communication
with the south through Angus and Aberdeenshire, and the adjoining
parts of Moray, which he could not maintain if he returned to
Inverness.
Accordingly, after despatching an express to Inverness, apprising
the garrison of his intentions, and promising assistance, should
Dundee venture to attack the town, Mackay began a rapid march towards
Strathspey, which he continued during the night, and did not halt
till he had descended a considerable way down that vale. Dundee, who
had closely pursued him, afraid of exposing his men to the attacks of
Mackay’s cavalry, did not follow him after he had gained the flatter
part of the Strath, but kept aloof at the distance of some miles
in a more elevated position where he encamped. Notwithstanding his
inferiority in point of numbers, the revolutionary general determined
to endeavour to allure Dundee from his stronghold by offering him
battle, and having refreshed his men, wearied by a long march of
twenty-four hours, he advanced next morning to within a mile of
Dundee’s camp, and, after reconnoitring the position of the enemy,
made preparations for receiving them; but Dundee, secure from danger,
by the nature of the ground he occupied, showed no disposition
to engage. It is probable that, in acting thus passively, he was
influenced by the conduct of the Highlanders, who were averse to
engage with cavalry, and some of whom (the Camerons, according to
Mackay,) fled to the neighbouring hills on Mackay’s approach. Seeing
no hope of drawing the viscount out of his trenches, Mackay returned
in the evening to his camp, which he removed the following day to
Colmnakill, about six miles lower down the Spey, where he considered
himself more secure from any sudden surprise or attack, and where
he was speedily joined by two troops of Livingston’s dragoons
from Dundee. The ground occupied by Mackay was a spacious plain,
bounded on the south by the Spey, which effectually protected his
rear, whilst his front was covered by a wood and some marshes which
skirted the plain on the north. The right of Mackay’s position was
protected by a small river with a rough and stony bottom. The general
himself took up his quarters at Belcastle, a summer-house in the
neighbourhood belonging to the laird of Grant, whence he despatched
ten or twelve of Grant’s tenants, selected by Grant himself as the
most intelligent and trustworthy, to watch and bring him notice of
Dundee’s motions. These scouts kept up a constant communication
with Mackay, who received a report from one or other of them almost
every alternate hour. In the meantime, he kept his whole army under
arms, and to prevent surprise, small parties of horse and dragoons
patrolled the neighbouring woods, and some foot were stationed along
the banks of the little river on the right. But these precautions
would probably have been unavailing, if the government general had
not timeously been made acquainted with the fact, that there were
enemies in his camp who were watching an opportunity to betray him.
For some time, a report had been current that Livingston’s regiment
of dragoons was disaffected to the government; but as Mackay could
not trace the rumour to any authentic source, he disbelieved it,
and to mark his confidence in its fidelity, he had ordered the two
troops which were stationed at Dundee to join him in the north. But
two days after two deserters from Dundee’s camp informed Mackay
that, with few exceptions, all the dragoon officers had entered into
a conspiracy to betray him. They said that they had heard Dundee
frequently assure the chiefs of the clans that he could depend upon
the dragoons, and heard him inform the chiefs, that till he saw a
favourable opportunity for requiring the services of the dragoons,
he would allow them to remain in the enemy’s camp, where they might
be useful to him. The deserters likewise informed Mackay that they
had not left Dundee’s camp altogether of their own accord, but partly
at the instigation of the lairds of Blair and Pollock, who had been
carried about by Dundee as prisoners ever since their capture at
Perth, and who were anxious to prevent Mackay from engaging, under
these circumstances, with such a small party of troops as he then had.
This information, though calculated to shake the general’s confidence
in the fidelity of these dragoons, was too vague and unsatisfactory
to be relied upon. Mackay appears at first to have had some doubts
of the truth of the statement; but his unwillingness to believe the
accusation gave place to an opposite impression when, after ordering
the deserters to be confined in Belcastle, and threatening them with
exemplary punishment should it turn out that they were spies sent by
Dundee, they expressed themselves quite satisfied to abide the result
of any investigation he might institute.
Mackay, though now satisfied that there were traitors in his camp,
took no steps to secure them, but continued to remain in his position
waiting for the arrival of Barclay’s dragoons and Leslie’s foot from
Forfar and Couper Angus. Mackay might have retreated down the river,
but he was advised to remain at Colmnakill by Sir Thomas Livingston
and the laird of Grant; because by retaining his ground, his expected
succours would be every day drawing nearer to him, and every day thus
spent would be lost to Dundee, who was prevented, by his presence,
from communicating with those places in the low country from which
he expected reinforcements, particularly in horse, of which he
stood in most need. Besides, by retiring, Mackay considered that he
might probably be forced to recross the Grampians before the two
regiments could join him, in which case he would leave the whole of
the north exposed to Dundee, who would probably avail himself of the
opportunity to raise a force too formidable to be encountered.
In the meantime, Dundee sent a detachment of his army to lay siege
to the old castle of Ruthven, in which Mackay, on his arrival at
Inverness, had placed a garrison of about 60 of Grant’s Highlanders,
under the command of John Forbes, brother to Culloden. The garrison
being in want of provisions, capitulated on the condition that their
lives should be spared, and that they should be allowed to return
to their homes on their parole. While conducted through Dundee’s
camp, Forbes observed all the horses saddled, and his army preparing
as if for an immediate march. In proceeding towards Colmnakill, he
met, at the distance of about a mile from Dundee’s lines, two men
on horseback, one in a red, the other in a blue uniform. The latter
immediately challenged him with the usual parole, “Qui vive?” on
which Forbes returning the “Vive le Roi Guilleaume,” as indicative
of his loyalty to the existing government, the man in red informed
him that they had been despatched from Mackay’s camp to obtain
intelligence of the enemy. Captain Forbes then cautioned the men of
the risk they would run if they proceeded farther, but regardless
of his advice, they rode forward in the direction of Dundee’s camp.
Forbes having mentioned this occurrence to Mackay the same day, the
latter immediately suspected that the officers of dragoons were in
communication with Dundee, as he had given no such order as the man
clothed in red had pretended. He, thereupon, desired inquiry to be
made if any dragoons had been sent out, and by whom; and as blue was
the uniform of Livingston’s men, he desired them to be instantly
mustered to ascertain if any were absent; but the general had
scarcely issued these instructions, when some of his scouts brought
him intelligence that Dundee’s army was moving down the Strath
towards Colmnakill. This movement, combined with the information
which had been communicated to him by Forbes, left no doubt of the
treachery of the dragoons.
Under these circumstances, Mackay had no alternative but an immediate
retreat. Calling, therefore, his commanding officers together, he
ordered them to put their men under arms, and to form them upon
the plain in marching order. He next addressed himself to the
laird of Grant, and after expressing his regret at the step he was
about to take, by which Grant’s lands would be left for a short
time exposed to the ravages of Dundee’s army, he requested him to
order his tenants to drive their cattle down the country out of
the reach of the enemy, who would probably overlook them in their
anxiety to follow him in his retreat. Grant listened to this advice
with becoming attention, but to show how little he regarded his
own personal interest, as opposed to what he conceived his duty to
his country, he observed, that though he might lose every thing
by Dundee’s invasion of his country, he would not take one step
prejudicial to the government.
In fixing the order of his retreat, Mackay adopted the plan he had
been accustomed to follow, that he might not excite the jealousy of
the dragoons, or make them suspect that he was distrustful of them.
Accordingly, as was his usual practice, he divided the dragoons into
two bodies, one of which, consisting of Major and Captain Balfour’s
companies, he placed in the rear, and the other four companies
commanded by the disaffected officers he placed in the front, that he
might overawe them by his own presence. Immediately before the two
troops of dragoons which formed the rear-guard, Mackay placed 200
foot, chiefly grenadiers of the three Scoto-Dutch regiments, and next
to them the English horse, then scarcely 70 men strong, and between
those horse and the four companies of dragoons which were led by Sir
Thomas Livingston, he posted 200 of Lord Reay’s and Balnagowan’s
Highlanders, having previously dismissed Grant’s men, whom he had
informed their chief he would leave behind to protect their own
country from Dundee’s stragglers.
There were three ways by which Mackay could retreat,--either towards
Inverness, or through Strathdown and Glenlivet, a movement which
would bring him near his expected reinforcements, or down Strathspey.
Of these routes Mackay would have preferred the southern; but as the
population of Strathdown and Glenlivet was Catholic, and of course
hostile to him, and as the ground in those districts was unfavourable
to the operations of cavalry in case of attack, he resolved to
march down Strathspey. But as he was desirous to conceal his route
from Dundee, he did not begin his march till nightfall, at which
time Dundee was within three miles of his camp. In his course down
Speyside he passed by the house of Grant of Ballindalloch, who was
serving under Dundee, and arrived early the following morning at
Balveny, where he halted to refresh his men and procure a supply
of provisions. There he met Sir George Gordon of Edinglassie, from
whom he obtained some men to act as intelligencers. Some of these he
despatched back in the direction he had come, to ascertain if Dundee
still remained in the Strath; but apprehensive that Dundee would take
a southerly course, by crossing the Strath, with the view of throwing
himself between Mackay and his reinforcements, he sent off others in
that direction. These scouts soon returned with intelligence that
Dundee was still in Strathspey. This information was satisfactory to
Mackay, and relieved him from a state of the most painful anxiety;
but he was still greatly perplexed by the want of provisions, which,
though hourly expected, had not yet arrived.
Desirous, however, to wait for supplies as long as consistent with
safety, he again despatched some of Gordon’s men in the direction
he supposed Dundee would take, and at the same time sent a sergeant
with a party of 12 dragoons back by the course he had marched, to
bring him notice of Dundee’s motions. Mackay waited with the greatest
impatience till about five o’clock in the evening for the return of
the dragoons, without any signs of their appearance, a circumstance
which alarmed him so much, that although a quantity of provisions and
oats had just reached his camp, he would not allow time for baking
bread or feeding the horses, but gave orders for an immediate march.
Accordingly, the whole party moved off in the same order as before,
and passed a small river about a mile above the place where they had
been encamped; but they had scarcely advanced half a mile when Sir
Thomas Livingston, who happened to be a little behind, observed the
enemy on the other side of the river they had just passed, marching
towards the ford by which Mackay’s men had crossed. On being informed
of this, Mackay, after ordering Lieutenant-colonel Livingston, who
was at the head of the vanguard, to continue at a pretty quick pace;
galloped to the rear, and having despatched Sir Thomas Livingston to
the front to lead the party, with instructions to keep up a constant
pace, but without wearying the troops, he posted himself upon a
rising ground with about 50 or 60 horse and dragoons in view of
Dundee’s army, where he was joined by the Master of Forbes with about
50 horse.
When Dundee observed the party of dragoons drawn up on the hillock
he immediately halted, drew in his stragglers, and marshalled his
men into battalions, keeping up the usual distinction of the clans.
In the meantime Mackay sent off his nephew, Major Mackay, to a hill
which lay about a quarter of a mile to his left, from which he
could obtain a nearer and more correct view of Dundee’s force and
his motions. The viscount’s horse immediately passed the river, and
drew up along the bank to protect the passage of the foot, who in
their turn also formed till the baggage was brought over. It was now
after sunset, but the viscount continued to advance. Mackay, who was
nearly two miles behind his rear; thereupon began to ride off with
his party, but he had not proceeded far when a cry of “halt!” met his
ears. On turning round he observed galloping after him, Major Mackay,
who, having observed a party of horse which he supposed to belong
to Dundee, moving along the face of a hill to the General’s left,
and which from the twilight appeared more numerous than it really
was, had hastened to acquaint the General of the circumstance. It
turned out, however, that this party which had occasioned such alarm
was no other than the sergeant with the 12 dragoons of Livingston’s
regiment which had been sent out by Mackay in the morning to
reconnoitre. It was afterwards ascertained that this sergeant was
concerned in the plot, and that he was the same individual in blue,
whom Captain Forbes had met with within a mile of Dundee’s camp. This
man pretended, however, that he had run great danger of capture;
and that he had taken such a round-about way merely to avoid the
enemy, though he and his party had been with Dundee the whole day,
and had conducted him over the ground which Mackay had passed on the
preceding day. The government forces continued their march all night
till they crossed the river of Bogie, where, from pure exhaustion,
they halted at four o’clock in the morning. The General then ordered
the provisions which had reached the camp previous to his retreat,
to be distributed among his troops, and desired the horsemen to
lead their horses into an adjoining corn-field and feed them. When
the men were refreshing themselves Mackay received the agreeable
intelligence that Barclay and Leslie’s regiments would join him that
day, but “to play sure game,” as he himself says, after allowing his
men two hours’ rest, he marched three miles further down towards his
succours, and took up a position at the foot of Suy-hill upon the
common road from the south to the north, by which he expected the two
regiments would march.
[Illustration: General Hugh Mackay of Scourie.]
Having sent a pressing order to Barclay and Leslie to hasten their
march, Mackay had the satisfaction of being joined by the former at
twelve o’clock noon, and by the latter at six o’clock in the evening,
after a long and fatiguing march. Resolved that no time should be
lost in turning the chase upon Dundee before he should be aware of
these reinforcements, Mackay put his army in marching order, and
advanced towards him after ten o’clock at night. But his designs were
made known to Dundee by two dragoons who had been despatched by their
officers. These men, on the departure of Dundee, were discovered in
a wood, and the general being satisfied that the sergeant before
mentioned had had a conference with Dundee, and the two dragoons
having confessed nearly as much themselves, he immediately put
Lieutenant-colonel Livingston and the other suspected officers under
arrest. He thereupon continued his march, and arrived at Balveny
that night; and on the following day reached Colmnakill, which he
had left only five days before. Here having received notice that a
party of Dundee’s men was on the other side of the adjoining river,
he sent orders to Sir Thomas Livingston to cross with 200 dragoons
and drive them away; but Sir Thomas having been previously informed
that the laird of Grant was sorely pressed by the retiring forces of
Dundee, had anticipated the general’s orders, and had advanced two
miles beyond the river with a greater force, in pursuit of a body of
Highlanders. These were, according to Balcarras, Sir John Maclean’s
men, who were on their way to join Dundee, and who, alarmed at the
appearance of such a large number of dragoons, threw away their
plaids and betook themselves to an adjoining hill, where they formed.
They are stated by the last-mentioned author to have amounted only
to 200 men, but Mackay, in his memoirs,[562] states the number at
500. Mackay observes, that but for the indiscretion of Livingston’s
adjutant, who by riding a quarter of a mile in advance, gave the
Highlanders timeous notice of the approach of the dragoons, not one
of them would have escaped, but being thereby enabled to gain the top
of the hill before the dragoons came up with them, they sustained a
loss of only 80 or 100 men. In this skirmish, a captain of Barclay’s
regiment and six dragoons were killed, and some wounded.
Having been joined by Ramsay’s detachment, which during the occupancy
of Strathspey by the hostile armies, had, unknown to Mackay,
penetrated through Athole and Badenoch and reached Inverness, Mackay
continued to pursue Dundee into Badenoch; but as the latter retired
into Lochaber, Mackay gave over the pursuit on learning that Dundee
had dismissed the greater part of his forces. Mackay, thereupon,
marched to Inverness with Livingston’s dragoons, Leslie’s foot, and
a party of Leven’s and Hastings’ regiments, and 200 Highlanders, and
sent Barclay’s regiment to Strathbogie, and the three Dutch regiments
to Elgin. From Inverness, Mackay despatched an express to the Duke
of Hamilton, urging upon him the necessity of placing “a formidable
garrison” at Inverlochy, and small ones in other places in the north,
without which he considered that it would be utterly impossible to
subdue the Highlanders, who, on the approach of an army, for which
a fortnight’s subsistence could not be found in their mountainous
regions, could easily retire to difficult passes and other places
inaccessible to regular troops. He, therefore, requested that his
grace and the parliament would consider the matter before the season
was farther spent, and provide the necessary means for carrying such
a design into effect against his arrival in the south, whither he
intended to proceed in a few days.
On his way to the south, Mackay despatched 50 horse, as many of
Barclay’s dragoons, and 60 foot, to take possession of the house
of Braemar, into which he intended to place a garrison to keep the
Braemar men in check, and to cover the county of Aberdeen; and he
ordered the captain of dragoons, after putting 20 of his men into
the house, to march forward, without halting, before break of day,
to the house of Inverey, about three miles farther off, for the
purpose of seizing Inverey and some other gentlemen who had lately
been with Dundee. But, fortunately for Inverey and his guests,
the officer trifled off his time in Braemar house, refreshing his
horses, till the dawn of the morning, and the approach of him and
his party being perceived, Inverey and his friends escaped in their
shirts to a neighbouring wood. Disappointed of their prey, the party
retired to the house of Braemar, where, after setting their horses
loose to graze, they laid themselves down to repose; but they were
soon wakened from their slumbers by some firing from a party on a
rock above, which had so alarmed the horses that they were found
galloping to and fro in the adjoining fields. As soon as the dragoons
had caught their horses, which they had some difficulty in doing,
they galloped down the country. The party on the rock was headed by
Inverey, who had collected a number of his tenantry for the purpose
of expelling the dragoons from his bounds, and who, on their retreat,
set fire to Braemar house, which was consumed.
The party of foot, which, having charge of a convoy of provisions and
ammunition for the intended garrison, had not yet arrived, on hearing
of the retreat of the dragoons, shut themselves up in a gentleman’s
house, to secure themselves from attack, and the commanding officer
sent an express after Mackay, who was then on his way to the south,
acquainting him with the failure of the enterprise. On receiving
this intelligence, Mackay, although he had not a day’s bread on hand,
and was in great haste to reach Edinburgh, “to put life in the design
of Inverlochy,” turned off his course and crossed the hills towards
Braemar, with his foot, after giving directions to Barclay’s dragoons
to march up Deeside. Finding Braemar house destroyed, and the
vaults of it incapable of holding a garrison, Mackay, after burning
Inverey’s house and laying waste all his lands, descended the river
to Abergeldie, where he left a detachment of 72 men as a check upon
the Farquharsons. And having placed the other troops which he had
brought from the north in quarters farther down the Dee, he posted
off to Edinburgh, where he arrived in the beginning of July, about
a fortnight after the surrender of the castle of Edinburgh, which
capitulated on the 14th of June, after a siege of three months.
On his arrival at Edinburgh, Mackay was exceedingly mortified to
find that no steps whatever had been taken by the government for
putting his design into execution, of erecting a fort at Inverlochy.
As the season was now too far advanced to collect materials for
such an erection, he proposed that a body of 1,500 pioneers should
be levied in the northern counties, each of whom should be obliged
to carry a spade, shovel, or pickaxe, along with him, and that a
month’s provisions of meal, with horses to carry it, should be
furnished, along with a force of 400 men. But this plan, the general
himself confesses, “considering the inability, ignorance, and little
forwardness of the government to furnish the necessary ingredients
for the advance of their service, was built upon a sandy foundation,
and much like the building of castles in the air.”[563] As an
instance of the slowness and irresolution of government, Mackay
mentions, that after his return from the north, they took three weeks
to deliberate upon the mode of conveying a fortnight’s provisions for
400 men; by which delay he says he lost the opportunity of preventing
Dundee from occupying Athole, Badenoch, and other parts of the
southern Highlands.
The return of Mackay to the capital, after a fruitless and
exceedingly harassing series of marches and countermarches,
seems to have abated the ardour of some of the supporters of the
government, who, disappointed in their expectations, and displeased
at the preference shown by the court to others they considered less
deserving than themselves, had become either indifferent about the
result of the struggle, or secretly wished for a restoration. That
such an event might occur was indeed far from improbable. James was
already in possession, with the exception of two cities, of all
Ireland, and William was by no means popular in England. To give,
therefore, a decided and favourable turn to James’s affairs in
Scotland, nothing was wanting but to aid Dundee immediately with a
few thousand men from Ireland; but although the necessity of such
a step was urged by Dundee in his communications with the exiled
monarch, the latter did not, unfortunately for himself, consider the
matter in the same light. The expectation of such a reinforcement,
which they confidently looked for, had, however, its due effect
upon the minds of the Highlanders, who gladly endured during the
recent campaign all those painful privations which necessarily
attend an army scantily provided with the means of subsistence.
No man was better fitted by nature than Dundee for command under
such difficulties, and at the head of such troops. Whilst by his
openness, frankness, and disinterestedness he acquired an ascendency
over the minds of the chiefs, he was equally successful by attending
personally to their wants, by mixing frequently among them, and by
sharing their privations and fatigues, in securing the obedience of
the clans. But valuable and important as the services were of such
a bold and devoted band, it was evident that without a sudden and
powerful diversion from Ireland, or a considerable rising in the
lowlands, it would be impossible for Dundee, from the paucity of his
forces, and the want of cavalry, to carry the war into the south with
any possible chance of success.
As the Irish reinforcements were daily expected, Dundee enjoined
the chiefs of the clans, who, with their men, had taken a temporary
leave of absence on the departure of Mackay, to rejoin him as soon as
possible, and from his head-quarters at Moy, in Lochaber, he sent
expresses to the other chiefs who had not yet joined him to hasten to
the approaching muster.[564]
About the same time he despatched a letter to the Earl of Melfort, in
which, after adverting to various circumstances, he advises him to
send over from Ireland a body of 5,000 or 6,000 men to Inverlochy,
which he considered the safest landing-place that could be selected
as being “far from the enemy,” and whence an easy entrance could be
obtained for an army into Moray, Angus, or Perthshire. On the return
of the transports from Inverlochy, Dundee advised Melfort to send
over as many foot as he conveniently could to the point of Cantyre,
on hearing of whose landing he would advance as far as the neck of
Tarbert to meet them, and that on the junction taking place, Dundee
would march “to raise the country,” and afterwards proceed to the
passes of the Forth to meet the king, who, it was supposed, would
follow the expedition. To deceive Mackay and the Scottish council,
and to induce them to withdraw their forces from the north, and thus
leave him at greater liberty to organize it, Dundee industriously
circulated a report that the forces from Ireland would land
altogether in some quarter south of the Clyde. To give an appearance
of certainty to the rumour, he wrote a letter to Lady Errol, a warm
supporter of James’s interest, acquainting her of the expected
landing in the west, and to prevent suspicion of any _ruse_ being
intended, he inclosed some proclamations, which, it is presumed, he
intended to issue when the Irish arrived. As wished and anticipated,
this despatch was intercepted and sent to Edinburgh. The device
appears to have in part succeeded, as Dundee informs Melfort, that
the government forces were afterwards withdrawn from Cantyre.[579]
Whilst Dundee was thus maturing his plans, preparatory to another
campaign, Mackay was urging the privy council to supply him with a
sufficient force, for carrying into effect his favourite plan of
erecting a strong fortification at Inverlochy. This leads to the
supposition that “the General,” a term by which Mackay distinguishes
himself in his memoirs, had not taken the bait which had been
prepared for him by his artful rival, for it is improbable, had
Mackay believed the story invented by Dundee, that he would have
insisted on carrying such a large force as 4,000 men, the number
he required, into Lochaber, so very remote from the scene of the
threatened invasion.
Having collected his forces, Mackay made the necessary preparations
for his departure, but he was detained nearly a fortnight in
Edinburgh, beyond the time he had fixed for his march, by the delays
of the government, in furnishing meal for his troops, and horses for
transporting it. In the meantime he was informed by Lord Murray,
eldest son of the Marquis of Athole, that Stewart of Ballochin, his
father’s chamberlain, and other gentlemen of the county of Angus,
had taken possession of the castle of Blair Athole, belonging to
the Marquis, and were fortifying it for behoof of King James. Lord
Murray offered to go immediately to Athole, and do everything in his
power to obtain possession of the castle of Blair, before Dundee
should arrive. As Lord Murray’s wife was known to be very zealous for
the presbyterian interest, and as his lordship and the Marquis his
father, who was secretly hostile to the government, were at variance,
Mackay gave a ready assent to the proposal, and pressed his lordship
eagerly to depart for Athole without loss of time, informing him that
all he required from him, was to prevent the Athole-men from joining
Dundee.[584]
Lord Murray accordingly proceeded to Athole, where he arrived about
the beginning of July, and lost no time in summoning his father’s
vassals to meet him. About 1,200 of them assembled, but no entreaties
could induce them to declare in favour of the government, nor could a
distinct pledge be obtained from them to observe a neutrality during
the impending contest. His lordship was equally unsuccessful in an
application which he made to Stewart of Ballochin, for delivery of
Blair castle; Stewart telling him that he held the castle for behoof
of King James, by order of his lieutenant-general. The failure of
Lord Murray’s mission could certainly occasion no disappointment, as
it was not to be imagined that a body of men who had all along been
distinguished for their attachment to the exiled family, were, at the
call of a young man, who by marriage, and the disagreement with his
father, may be supposed to have made himself obnoxious to the men of
Athole, all at once to abandon long-cherished ideas and to arm in
support of a cause in which they felt no interest.
About the period of Lord Murray’s arrival in Athole, intelligence was
brought to Dundee that a body of 500 Irish troops, under an officer
of the name of Cannon, had reached Mull. The viscount immediately
proceeded to Inverlochy to give orders respecting their landing,
but, although they all reached the mainland in perfect safety, the
ships which carried their provisions being unnecessarily detained
at Mull, were all captured by some English frigates which were
cruizing amongst the western islands. The loss of their stores was
a serious evil; and it embittered the disappointment felt by Dundee
and the chiefs, to find that instead of an efficient force of 5,000
or 6,000 men, as they had been led to expect, not more than a tenth
part had been sent, and even this paltry force was neither properly
disciplined, nor sufficiently armed; so that, according to Balcarras,
their arrival did “more harm than good.” Such also was the opinion of
Mackay at the time, as expressed in a letter to Lord Melville.[585]
Having given the necessary orders for bringing up the Irish troops,
Dundee returned to Strowan, where he had fixed his head quarters.
Here he received a letter which had arrived during his absence
at Inverlochy, from Lord Strathnaver, eldest son of the Earl of
Sutherland, couched in very friendly terms, and advising him to
follow the example of the Duke of Gordon, as the course he was
following, if persisted in, would lead inevitably to his ruin.
But Dundee was not the man who would allow his personal interest
to interfere with the allegiance which he considered he owed to
his exiled sovereign, and while in his answer he expressed a deep
sense of the obligation he lay under to his lordship for his advice
and offers of service, which he imputed to his lordship’s “sincere
goodness and concern” for him and his family, he assured him that
he (Dundee) had no less concern for him, and that he had been even
thinking of making a proposal to him, but delayed doing so till his
lordship should see things in a clearer point of view.
At Strowan, Dundee was made acquainted by Stewart of Ballochin, with
Lord Murray’s proceedings, and with a demand made by his lordship
for possession of Blair castle, a demand to which Ballochin had
given the most decided refusal. The possession of this place was
of vast importance to Dundee, as it commanded the entrance into
the southern Highlands, and lay in the line of Mackay’s intended
route to Inverlochy. To reward his fidelity, and to counteract Lord
Murray’s influence in Athole, Dundee sent a commission to Ballochin,
appointing him colonel of the Athole-men. The appointment, however,
would probably have been conferred on Lord Murray, to whom Dundee
had, on the 19th of July, two days before the date of Ballochin’s
commission, despatched a letter, stating the happiness which he
felt on hearing that his lordship had appointed a rendezvous of
the Athole-men at Blair, and expressing a hope that he would join
the viscount with his men; but, instead of answering this letter,
his lordship sent it to Lord Melville, the secretary of state for
Scotland. Such also was the fate of other letters, which Dundee
sent to Lord Murray. Along with the last, which was written on the
25th of July, Dundee despatched Major Graham and Captain Ramsay for
the purpose of obtaining a personal interview with Lord Murray;
but he declined to see them, or to give any answer to Dundee’s
communication. It appears that up to this time the Athole-men, who
had, at the call of the son of their chief, assembled to the number
of about 1,200, were ignorant of Lord Murray’s intentions; but
when he refused to receive Dundee’s officers, they at once began
to suspect his designs, and demanded with one voice an immediate
explanation, intimating at the same time, that if he would join
Dundee they would follow him to a man; but if on the contrary he
refused, they would all leave him. His lordship remonstrated with
them, and even threatened them with his vengeance if they abandoned
him; but regardless of his threats, they left him to join Dundee,
having previously filled their bonnets with water from the rivulet of
Banovy, in the neighbourhood of Blair castle, and pledged themselves
to King James by drinking his health.[586]
In the meantime the government general was busily engaged at
Edinburgh, making the necessary preparations for his march. He
appointed his troops to rendezvous at Perth, and after completing
his arrangements at Edinburgh, he went to Stirling to inspect the
castle, so as to make himself acquainted with its means of defence.
In a letter[587] dated 24th July, written to Lord Melville on his
arrival at Stirling, Mackay alludes to the distracted state of the
government in Scotland, and the difficulty he would experience in
executing the commission which the king had given him, to keep the
kingdom peaceable, in consequence of the divisions which existed
even between the adherents of the government. The removal from
office of Stair the president of the court of session, and his son,
who had rendered themselves obnoxious to the ultra whig party, by
their attempts to stretch the royal prerogative too far, appears to
have been considered by that party of more importance than keeping
Dundee in check. So high did the spirit of party run, that the Earl
of Annandale and Lord Ross, who had just been appointed colonels
of two newly raised regiments of horse, refused to accompany their
regiments, and offered to resign their commissions rather than quit
the parliament. This state of matters was highly favourable to
James’s interests in Scotland, and if Melfort had followed Dundee’s
advice, by sending over a large force from Ireland, the cause of
his royal master might have triumphed, but with that fatality which
attended the unfortunate monarch in all his undertakings, he allowed
to slip away the golden opportunity which was here offered him, of
recovering his crown.
From Stirling Mackay proceeded to Perth, after ordering the troops
of horse and dragoons of the expedition to follow him. On arriving
at Perth, a letter was shown him from Lord Murray, from which he
learned, that Dundee, who had been solicited by Stewart of Ballochin
to hasten into Athole, was already marching through Badenoch, and
so anxious was he to anticipate Mackay’s arrival in Athole, that he
had left behind him several chiefs and their men, whose junction he
daily expected. Lord Murray added, that if Mackay did not hasten his
march so as to reach Athole before Dundee, he would not undertake
to prevent his men from joining the viscount. As Mackay informs us,
that before leaving Edinburgh he had begun “already to have very ill
thoughts of the expedition in gross,” and as on reaching Stirling,
the idea that he would be straitened for provisions haunted his mind,
this information was assuredly by no means calculated to relieve
these fearful apprehensions. He had gone too far, however, to retrace
his steps with honour, and although four troops of dragoons and
two of horse had not yet joined him, he resolved, for reasons that
to him, in the position in which he was then placed, seemed most
forcible, to proceed immediately on his march to Athole.
The last and perhaps most important reason given by himself for this
step, is that, as the possession, by Mackay, of the castle of Blair,
was in his opinion the only means of keeping in awe the Athole-men,
(who, from their numbers and strict attachment to the house of
Stewart, were more to be dreaded than any other body of Highlanders,)
and preventing them from joining Dundee, he had no alternative but to
allow Dundee to roam uncontrolled through the disaffected district of
Athole, gathering strength at every step, or to attempt to gain the
important fortress of Blair.
Such were the grounds, as stated by Mackay in his own exculpation,
which made him resolve upon marching into Athole, and which, he
observes, “more capable commanders might readily be deceived in.”
Those who make the unfortunate result of this movement the rule of
their judgment, will be apt to condemn Mackay’s conduct on this
occasion as rash and injudicious, but when his own reasons are duly
weighed, it is difficult to see how he could have acted otherwise
than he did. There can be no doubt, that had he been as successful
at Killiecrankie as he was unfortunate, he would have been applauded
for the exercise of a sound discretion, and regarded as a tactician
of the highest order.
On the 26th of July, Mackay left Perth at the head of an army of
4,500 men. Of this force, notwithstanding that the four troops of
dragoons and two of horse already alluded to, had not yet arrived,
a fair proportion consisted of cavalry. At night Mackay encamped
opposite to Dunkeld, and here, at midnight, he received an express
from Lord Murray announcing the alarming intelligence, that Dundee
had entered Athole, in consequence of which event he informed him
that he had retreated from before the castle of Blair, which he had
for some time partially blockaded; and that although he had left the
narrow and difficult pass of Killiecrankie between him and Dundee, he
had posted a guard at the further extremity to secure a free passage
to Mackay’s troops through the pass which he supposed Dundee had
already reached. Mackay seems to have doubted the latter part of this
statement, and his suspicions were in some degree confirmed by the
fact, that Lieutenant-colonel Lauder, whom he despatched with a party
immediately on receipt of Murray’s letter, to secure the entrance
into the pass from the vale of Blair, did not see a single man on his
arrival there.