persevere in his march, and having despatched orders to Perth to
hasten the arrival of the six troops of cavalry he had left behind,
he put his army in motion next morning, July 27th, at day-break, and
proceeded in the direction of the pass, the entrance to which he
reached at ten o’clock in the morning. Here he halted, and allowed
his men two hours to rest and refresh themselves before they entered
upon the bold and hazardous enterprise of plunging themselves into
a frightful chasm, out of which they might possibly never return.
To support Lauder in case of attack, the general, on halting,
despatched through the pass a body of 200 men under the command of
the Lieutenant-colonel of the Earl of Leven’s regiment, whom he
instructed to send him any intelligence he could obtain of Dundee’s
motions. A short way below the pass Mackay fell in with Lord Murray,
who informed him, that with the exception of 200 or 300 men, who
still remained with him, the whole had gone to the hills to secure
their cattle, an answer which Mackay, with the open and unsuspecting
generosity of a soldier, considered satisfactory, and made him, as he
observes, “not so apt to judge so ill of Murray as others did.”
Having received a notice from Lauder that the pass was clear, and
that there was no appearance of Dundee, Mackay put his army again
in motion, and entered the fatal pass. Hastings’s regiment (now
the 13th), and Annandale’s horse were placed behind to protect the
baggage, from an apprehension that Dundee’s Highlanders might make a
detour round the hill to attack it, or that the country people might
attempt to plunder it if not so guarded. The idea that no opposition
would be offered to their passage through this terrific defile,
which seemed to forbid approach, and to warn the unhappy soldier of
the dangers which awaited him should he precipitate himself into
its recesses, may have afforded some consolation to the feelings of
Mackay’s troops as they entered this den of desolation; but when
they found themselves fairly within its gorge, their imaginations
must have been appalled as they gazed, at every successive step,
on the wild and terrific objects which encompassed them on every
side. They however proceeded, at the command of their general, on
their devious course, and finally cleared it, with the loss of only
a single horseman, who, according to an Athole tradition, was shot
by an intrepid adventurer, named Ian Ban Beg MacRan, who had posted
himself on a hill, from which he fired across the rivulet of the
Garry and brought down his victim. A well, called in Gaelic, _Fuaran
u trupar_,--_Anglicé_, the “Horseman’s well,”--is shown as the place
where the horseman fell.
As soon as the five battalions and the troop of horse which preceded
the baggage had debouched from the further extremity of the pass,
they halted, by command of the general, upon a corn field, along
the side of the river to await the arrival of the baggage, and of
Hastings’s regiment and the other troop of horse. Mackay then
ordered Lieutenant-colonel Lauder to advance with his 200 fusileers
and a troop of horse in the direction he supposed Dundee might be
expected to appear. Lauder had not advanced far when he discovered
some parties of Dundee’s forces between him and Blair. Being
immediately apprised of this by Lauder, Mackay, after giving orders
to Colonel Balfour to supply the troops with ammunition, and to put
them under arms without delay, galloped off to the ground, from which
Lauder had espied the enemy, to observe their motions before making
choice of the field of battle. On arriving at the advanced post,
Mackay observed several small parties of troops, scarcely a mile
distant, marching slowly along the foot of a hill in the direction
of Blair, and advancing towards him. Mackay, thereupon, sent orders
to Balfour to advance immediately up to him with the foot. But these
orders were no sooner despatched than he observed some bodies of
Dundee’s forces marching down a high hill within a quarter of a mile
from the place where he stood, in consequence of which movement, he
immediately galloped back to his men to countermand the order he had
just issued, and to put his army in order of battle.[588]
Dundee, who had been duly advertised of Mackay’s motions, had
descended from the higher district of Badenoch into Athole on
the previous day, with a force of about 2,500 men, of whom about
one-fifth part consisted of the Irish, which had lately landed at
Inverlochy under Brigadier Cannon. Some of the clans which were
expected had not yet joined, as the day appointed for the general
rendezvous had not then arrived; but as Dundee considered it of
paramount importance to prevent Mackay from establishing himself in
Athole, he did not hesitate to meet the latter, whose force numbered
about 4,000.[589]
On his arrival at the castle of Blair, intelligence was brought
Dundee that Mackay had reached the pass of Killiecrankie, which he
was preparing to enter. Dundee, against the advice of most of his
officers, resolved to allow Mackay to enter the pass undisputed. He
appealed to the feelings of the Highlanders, whose ancestors, he
said, acting upon their national maxim never to attack a foe who
could not defend himself on equal terms, would have disdained to
adopt the course proposed, (and in saying so he did not, he observed,
mean to insinuate that the persons he addressed had degenerated from
the honour and courage of their ancestors). One principal reason
stated by Dundee for allowing Mackay to advance through the Pass
unmolested, was the great advantage they would gain by engaging him
on open ground before he should be joined by his English dragoons,
who, from their being so formidable to the Highlanders, would, if
allowed by him to come up, more than compensate for any accession
of force which Dundee might receive.[590] Another reason not less
important was, that in the event of Mackay sustaining a defeat, his
army would probably be ruined, as he could not retreat back through
the Pass without the risk of evident destruction, whereas should
the Highlanders suffer a defeat, they could easily retreat to the
mountains. He added, that in anticipation of Mackay’s defeat, he had
already given orders to his friends in the neighbourhood, to cut off
the few remaining stragglers that might attempt to escape.[591]
[Illustration: KILLIECRANKIE.
A. Fullarton & C^o. London & Edinburgh.]
The forces which had been descried by Lauder, appear to have been
a body of 400 men under the command of Sir John Maclean, whom
Dundee, on learning that the advanced guard of Mackay’s army, after
traversing the pass, had taken up a position near its northern
extremity, had despatched from Blair castle to keep them in check.
But his scouts having shortly thereafter brought him notice that the
whole of Mackay’s army was preparing to enter the pass, he resolved
to make a detour with the main body of his army round the hill on
which the castle of Lude stands, in the vicinity of the pass, and
fall upon Mackay as soon as he should clear that defile. Having made
himself acquainted, by inquiries among the most intelligent of the
country people, with the localities in the immediate neighbourhood
of the pass, and of the suitableness of the ground for the operations
of such a force as his, he advanced at double-quick time from Blair
along the present line of road, and on arriving at the river Tilt,
turned off to the left round the back of the hill, and crossed that
river near its confluence with the rivulet of Ald-Chluan. This
movement will account for the sudden and unexpected appearance of
Dundee on the face of the high hill on Mackay’s right.
Immediately above the ground on which Mackay had halted his troops is
an eminence, the access to which is steep and difficult, and covered
with trees and shrubs. Alarmed lest Dundee should obtain possession
of this eminence--which being within a carabine shot from the place
on which Mackay stood, would give him such a command of the ground as
would enable him, by means of his fire, to force Mackay to cross the
river in confusion--he, immediately on his return from the position
occupied by his advanced guard, “made every battalion form by a Quart
de Conversion to the right upon the ground where they stood,”[592]
and then made them march each in succession before him up the hill
till they reached the eminence, of which they took possession. Within
a musket shot of this ground is another eminence immediately above
the house of Urrard, which Dundee had reached before Mackay had
completed his ascent, and on which he halted.
At this conjuncture, neither Hastings’s regiment nor Annandale’s
troop of horse had yet come out of the pass, but Mackay,
nevertheless, at once proceeded to arrange his men in fighting
order on a plain between the edge of the eminence and the foot or
commencement of the ascent to Dundee’s position, which, from its
extent, enabled him to form his men in one line along the eminence.
In making his dispositions, Mackay divided every battalion into two
parts, and as he meant to fight three deep, he left a small distance
between each of these sub-battalions. In the centre of his line,
however, he left a greater interval of space, behind which he placed
the two troops of horse, with the design, when the Highlanders, after
the fire of the line had been spent, should approach, to draw them
off by this larger interval, and flank the Highlanders on either
side, as occasion should offer. Mackay assigns as his reason for
placing his cavalry in his rear till the fire should be exhausted
on both sides, a dread he entertained of exposing them to Dundee’s
horse, with whom it could not be supposed that these newly-raised
levies could cope. Hastings’s regiment, which arrived after Mackay
had taken up his ground, was placed on the right; and, for greater
security, there was added to it a detachment of firelocks from each
battalion. On the extreme left on a hillock covered with trees,
Lieutenant-colonel Lauder was posted, with his party of 200 men,
composed of the _elite_ of the army. Mackay having been recognised by
Dundee’s men busily employed riding along his line, from battalion to
battalion, giving orders, was selected by some of them for a little
ball practice; but although “their popping shot,” which wounded some
of his men, fell around him wherever he moved, he escaped unhurt.
After his line had been fully formed, Mackay rode along the front,
from the left wing, which he committed to the charge of Brigadier
Balfour, to the right, and having ascertained that every thing was in
readiness to receive the enemy, he addressed the battalions nearest
him in a short speech. He requested them to reflect that their own
personal safety was involved in the issue of that day’s contest; and
assured them that if they maintained their ground, and kept firmly
and closely united together, their assailants would quickly flee
before them for refuge to the hills--that the reason for which the
Highlanders stript themselves almost naked before battle was rather
to enable them to escape, than from any hopes they entertained of
pursuing their foes. Should, however, his men unfortunately give way
before the rabble of Highlanders whom they saw marshalled on the
adjoining heights--an event which he by no means expected--there
was an absolute certainty, as these naked mountaineers were more
nimble-footed than they were, and as all the Athole-men were in arms,
ready to take advantage of their defeat, that few or none of them
would escape with their lives. In conclusion, he warned them that
the only way to avoid ruin was to stand firm to their posts, and,
like brave men, to fight to the last in defence of their religion and
liberties, against the invaders of both, to secure which, and not the
desire of a crown, was the sole reason which had induced his majesty
to send them on the present service.
Whilst Mackay was thus occupied on the lower platform, his gallant
rival was equally busy flying about on the eminence above, ranging
his men in battle array. He was particularly distinguished amongst
his officers by a favourite dun-coloured horse which he rode, and
by his plated armour, which glittered in the sun-beams. Dundee, who
had arrived upon the higher platform about the same time that Mackay
had gained the ground he now occupied, ranged his men in one line in
the following order:--On the right, he placed Sir John Maclean, with
his regiment divided into two battalions. On the left, he posted the
regiment of Sir Donald Macdonald, commanded by the young chief and
Sir George Barclay, and a battalion under Sir Alexander Maclean. In
the centre were placed four battalions, consisting of the Camerons,
the Macdonells of Glengary and Clanranald, and the Irish regiment,
with a troop of horse under the command of Sir William Wallace,
who had early that morning produced a commission, to the great
displeasure of the Earl of Dunfermline and other officers, appointing
him colonel of a horse regiment which the earl commanded.[593] It
may be observed, that neither Mackay nor Dundee placed any body of
reserve behind their lines.
The great extent of Mackay’s line, which reached considerably beyond
Dundee’s wings,[594] compelled the latter, to prevent the danger of
being outflanked, to enlarge the intervals between his battalions.
A general movement from right to left accordingly took place along
Dundee’s line. Before Dundee’s left halted, Mackay, imagining that
the object of the movement in that quarter was to get between him
and the pass, for the purpose of cutting off all communication
between him and Perth, made his line make a corresponding movement to
his right, but on observing that Dundee’s left wing halted, Mackay
brought his line to a stand. These different movements necessarily
occupied a considerable time, and both armies being now finally
arranged, they gazed upon each other with great composure for the
space of two whole hours.
During this interval of care and anxious suspense, the feelings of
both parties--their hopes or their fears--would probably be tinctured
by a deeper hue of confidence or despondency as they reflected on
the events of former days. Though more than forty years had elapsed
since the brilliant achievements of Montrose, the Highlanders,[595]
naturally brave, had lost none of their military ardour, and the
descendants of the heroes of Tippermuir, Aldearn, and Kilsyth, who
now stood in battle array on the upper plain, whence, with a scowl
of scorn and defiance, they looked down upon the _Sassenachs_ below,
calling to mind the recital of the heroic deeds of their fathers,
to which they had listened with wonder and enthusiasm in their
childhood, would burn for the moment when, at the command of their
chief, they should measure their broad swords with the bayonets of
their Lowland foes. On the other hand, Mackay’s men had no such
recollections to inspire confidence or to cheer them in their
perilous enterprise, and when they beheld the Highland host ready at
a moment’s notice to burst like a mountain torrent upon their devoted
heads, and called to mind the tales they had heard of the warlike
prowess of the Highlanders, they could not but recoil at the idea of
encountering, in deadly strife, such determined antagonists. There
were, it is true, many men in Mackay’s army to whom the dangers of
the battle field were familiar, and in whose minds such reflections
would doubtless find no place, but the great majority of his troops
consisted of newly raised levies, who had never before seen the face
of an enemy.
Mackay himself, though an old and experienced officer, and a brave
man, was not without his misgivings; and as the evening advanced
without any movement on the part of Dundee to commence the action,
his uneasiness increased. Nor were his apprehensions likely to be
allayed by the reply made by the second son of Lochiel, who held a
commission in his own regiment of Scots fusileers, in answer to a
question put to him by Mackay. “Here is your father with his wild
savages,” said Mackay to the young man, on seeing the standard of
the Camerons, putting on at the same moment an air of confidence,
“how would you like to be with him?” “It signifies little,” answered
the son of the chief, “what I would like, but I recommend to you
to be prepared; or perhaps my father and his wild savages may be
nearer to you before night than you would like.”[596] The apparent
irresolution of the Highlanders to begin the battle was considered by
Mackay as intentional, and he supposed that their design was to wait
till nightfall, when, by descending suddenly from their position,
and setting up a loud shout, according to their usual custom, they
expected to frighten his men, unaccustomed to an enemy, and put them
in disorder. As Mackay could not, without the utmost danger, advance
up the hill and commence the action, and as the risk was equally
great should he attempt to retreat down the hill and cross the river,
he resolved, at all hazards, to remain in his position, “though with
impatience,” as he observes, till Dundee should either attack him or
retire, which he had better opportunities of doing than Mackay had.
To provoke the Highlanders, and to induce them to engage, he ordered
three small leather field pieces to be discharged, but they proved of
little use, and the carriages being much too high, broke after the
third firing.
Towards the close of the evening, some of Dundee’s sharpshooters, who
had kept up, during the day, an occasional fire in the direction in
which they observed Mackay moving, by which they had wounded some of
his men, as already stated, took possession of some houses upon the
ascent which lay between the two armies, for the purpose of directing
their aim with surer effect. But they were immediately dislodged by
a party of musketeers despatched by Mackay’s brother, who commanded
the general’s regiment, and chased back to their main body with some
loss. This skirmish Mackay supposed would soon draw on a general
engagement, and his expectations were speedily realized.
It was within half an hour of sunset, and the moment was at hand,
when, at the word of command, the Highlanders and their allies
were to march down the hill, and with sword in hand, fall upon the
trembling and devoted host below, whom, like the eagle viewing
his destined prey from his lofty eyry, they had so long surveyed.
Having determined, as much to please his men as to gratify his own
inclination, to lead the charge in person, at the head of the horse,
Dundee exchanged his red coat, which he had worn during the day,
and by which he had been recognised by Mackay’s troops, for another
of darker colour, to conceal his rank, and thereby avoid the risk
of being singled out by the enemy. Dundee, after the manner of the
ancient Greek and Roman generals, is said to have harangued his men
in the following enthusiastic strain:--[597]
“You are come hither to fight, and that in the best of causes; for it
is the battle of your king, your religion, and your country, against
the foulest usurpation and rebellion. And having therefore so good
a cause in your hands, I doubt not but it will inspire you with an
equal courage to maintain it; for there is no proportion betwixt
loyalty and treason, nor should there be any betwixt the valour of
good subjects and traitors. Remember that to-day begins the fate
of your king, your religion, and your country. Behave yourselves,
therefore, like true Scotsmen, and let us by this action redeem
the credit of this nation, that is laid low by the treacheries and
cowardice of some of our countrymen, in making which request, I ask
nothing of you that I am not now ready to do myself. And if any of us
shall fall upon this occasion, we shall have the honour of dying on
our duty, and as becomes true men of valour and conscience; and such
of us as shall live and win the battle, shall have the reward of a
gracious king and the praise of all good men. In God’s name, then,
let us go on, and let this be your word--King James and the church of
Scotland, which God long preserve!”[598]
A pause now ensued, and a death-like silence prevailed along the
line, when, on a sudden, it appeared in motion, marching slowly down
the hill. The Highlanders, who stript themselves to their shirts and
doublets, advanced, according to their usual practice, with their
bodies bent forward, so as to present as small a surface as possible
to the fire of the enemy, the upper part of their bodies being
covered by their targets.
To discourage the Highlanders in their advance by keeping up a
continual fire, Mackay had given instructions to his officers
commanding battalions, to commence firing by platoons, at the
distance of a hundred paces. This order was not attended to, as
Balfour’s regiment, and the half of Ramsay’s, did not fire a single
shot, and the other half fired very little. The Highlanders, however,
met with a very brisk fire from Mackay’s right, and particularly
from his own battalion, in which no less than 16 gentlemen of the
Macdonells of Glengarry fell; but, undismayed by danger, they kept
steadily advancing in the face of the enemy’s fire, of which they
received three rounds. Having now come close up to the enemy, they
halted for a moment, and having levelled and discharged their
pistols, which did little execution, they set up a loud shout and
rushed sword in hand upon the enemy, before the latter had time to
screw on their bayonets to the end of their muskets. The shock was
too impetuous to be long resisted by men who, according to their
own general, “behaved, with the exception of Hastings’s and Leven’s
regiment, like the vilest cowards in nature.” But even had these
men been more stout-hearted, their courage would not have availed
them, as their arms were insufficient to parry off the tremendous
strokes of the axes, and the broad and double-edged swords of the
Highlanders, who, with a single blow, either felled their opponents
to the earth or struck off a member from their bodies, and at once
disabled them. While the work of death was thus going on towards the
right, Dundee, at the head of the horse, made a furious charge on
Mackay’s own battalion, and broke through it, on which the English
horse which were stationed behind, fled without firing a single
shot. Dundee, thereupon, rode off to attack the enemy’s cannon, but
the officer (Sir William Wallace) who had that morning produced his
commission as colonel of the horse, appears to have misunderstood
Dundee, who, on arriving near the enemy’s cannon, found himself
alone. He, therefore, gave the horse a signal to advance quickly, on
which the Earl of Dunfermline, who then served only as a volunteer,
overlooking the affront which had been put upon him, rode out of the
ranks, followed by 16 gentlemen, attacked the party who guarded the
cannon, and captured them.
As soon as Mackay perceived that Dundee’s grand point of attack was
near the centre of his line, he immediately resolved to attack the
Highlanders in flank with the two troops of horse which he had placed
in the rear of his line, for which purpose he ordered Lord Belhaven
to proceed round the left wing with his own troop, and attack them
on their right flank; he ordered at the same time the other troop to
proceed in the contrary direction, and assail them on their left.
Mackay himself led round Belhaven’s troop, but it was scarcely in
front of the line when it got into disorder, and instead of obeying
the orders to wheel for the flank of the enemy, after some confused
firing it turned upon the right wing of Lord Kenmure’s battalion,
which it threw into disorder, and which thereupon began to give way.
At this critical moment Mackay, who was instantly surrounded by a
crowd of Highlanders, anxious to disentangle his cavalry, so as to
get them formed, called aloud to them to follow him, and putting
spurs to his horse galloped through the enemy, but with the exception
of one servant whose horse was shot under him, not a single horseman
attempted to follow their general. When he had gone sufficiently
far to be out of the reach of immediate danger, he turned round to
observe the state of matters, and to his infinite surprise he found
that both armies had disappeared. To use his own expression, “in the
twinkling of an eye, in a manner,” his own men as well as the enemy
were out of sight, having gone down pell-mell to the river where his
baggage stood. The flight of his men must have been rapid indeed, for
although the left wing, which had never been attacked, had begun to
flee before he rode off, the right wing and centre still kept their
ground.
Mackay now stood in one of the most extraordinary predicaments in
which the commander of an army was ever placed. His whole men had, as
if by some supernatural cause, disappeared almost in an instant of
time, and he found himself standing a solitary being on the mountain
side, not knowing what to do, or whither to direct his course.
Whether had they had the courage to follow him, the timid troop would
have turned the tide of victory in his favour, may indeed be well
doubted; but it is obvious that he adopted the only alternative which
could render success probable. Judging from the ease with which he
galloped through the Highlanders, who made way for him, he thinks
that if he had had but 50 resolute horse such as Colchester’s, he
“had certainly,” as he says, “by all human appearance recovered all,”
for although his whole line had begun to give way when he ordered the
horse to follow him, the right of the enemy had not then moved from
their ground.[599] While ruminating upon the “sad spectacle” which he
now beheld, his mind preyed upon by the most gloomy reflections, he
fortunately espied to the right, “a small heap of red coats,” which
he immediately galloped for, and found it to consist of a part of
the Earl of Leven’s regiment, mixed with a few stragglers from other
regiments who had escaped from the swords of the Highlanders. The
Earl himself, his Lieutenant-colonel, the Major, and most of the
other officers of the regiment, were with this body. Mackay perceived
a part of Hastings’s regiment marching up to the ground it had
occupied at the commencement of the action. Having rode up to this
party, he was informed by the Colonel that he had left his ground in
pursuit of the enemy, a detachment of which had attempted to outflank
him, but having wheeled to the right upon them with his pikes, they
abandoned the idea of attacking him, and repaired to their main body,
which they observed among the baggage at the river-side.
The plunder which the baggage offered was too tempting a lure for
the Highlanders, whose destructive progress it at once arrested. It
was in fact solely to this thirst for spoil that Mackay and the few
of his men who escaped owed their safety, for had the Highlanders
continued the pursuit, it is very probable that not a single
individual of Mackay’s army would have been left alive to relate
their sad disaster.[600]
As soon as Mackay had got up Hastings’s battalion and joined it to
that of Leven’s, he despatched his nephew, Captain Mackay,--who,
though he had received eight broad-sword wounds on his body, was
still able to ride his horse,--in quest of such of his officers as
might be within his reach, about the bottom of the hill, with orders
to collect as many of their men as they could, and join the general.
This mission was totally unsuccessful, for although he had fallen in
with several officers, few of them took any notice of him; and all
who had survived the battle were now scattered far beyond Mackay’s
reach. While receiving this afflicting intelligence, Mackay descried
in the twilight, a large body of men, who appeared to form themselves
along the edge of a wood on Balfour’s left, where Lieutenant-colonel
Lauder had been posted with 200 men. As he was not yet aware of
the fate of Lauder’s corps, which was among the first that fled, he
supposed that the body he had observed might either be that party or
another body of his men who had retired to the wood on the descent of
the Highlanders, and he therefore rode off to reconnoitre them, after
directing his officers to endeavour to put their men in a condition
to fire one discharge, at least, if attacked. Mackay approached the
party sufficiently near to discover that they were Dundee’s men,
and having turned his horse’s head he walked slowly back, that he
might not excite the apprehensions of the Highlanders. The ground
on which Mackay stood with the wreck of his army, amounting to
scarcely 400 men, was the farthest removed of any other part of the
position he had selected in the morning, from the point to which
he was necessarily obliged to direct his retreat, and over the
intervening space he could not but expect to fall in with parties
of the Highlanders, who would fall upon him, and kill or disperse
his tired followers. But he extricated himself from the difficulties
which beset him, with considerable adroitness. He advised them on no
account to show any inclination to run, as it could not add to their
personal safety, but, on the contrary, might endanger it the more,
as the Highlanders, observing their terror, would certainly break in
among them, and pursue them with the greater avidity. When about to
retire down the hill the party was joined by Lord Belhaven, and a
few other horsemen, who proved very serviceable as scouts during the
retreat. Mackay then led his men slowly down the hill, and evaded the
enemy so completely that he did not meet with the least interruption
in his march. He retired across the Garry without molestation, and
made a short halt to ascertain whether he was pursued. Seeing no
disposition on the part of the Highlanders to follow him, he began
to think of the best way of retiring out of Athole. All his officers
advised him to return to Perth through the pass of Killiecrankie, but
he saw proper to reject this advice, and resolved to march several
miles up Athole and cross over the hills to Stirling.
Giving orders, therefore, to his men to march, he proceeded to the
west along the bank of the river, and had the satisfaction, when
about two miles from the field of battle, to come up with a party of
about 150 fugitives almost without arms, under the command of Colonel
Ramsay, who was quite at a loss what direction to take. Mackay then
continued his march along the edge of a rivulet which falls into the
Garry, till he came to some little houses. Here he obtained from
one of the inhabitants, information as to the route he meant to
follow, and having made himself acquainted, as far as he could, by
an examination of his map, with the situation of the country through
which he had to pass, he crossed the stream and proceeded across the
hills towards Weem castle, the seat of the chief of the clan Menzies,
whose son had been in the action with a company of 100 Highlanders he
had raised for the service of the government. After a most fatiguing
journey, he reached the castle before morning. Here he obtained some
sleep and refreshment, of which he stood greatly in need, having
since his departure from Dunkeld, on the morning preceding, marched
about 40 miles.
[Illustration: Pass of Killiecrankie in last century. From an old
crayon drawing.]
The news of Mackay’s defeat had preceded his retreat; and on his
march during the following day, he found the country through which he
passed in an uproar, and every person arming in favour of King James.
The people of Strathtay alarmed at the approach of Mackay’s men, whom
they took to be Highlanders, and considering their houses and cattle
in danger, set up a dreadful shout, which so frightened Mackay’s men
that they began to flee back to the hills under an apprehension that
the Highlanders were at hand. Mackay and some of his officers on
horseback, by presenting their pistols and threatening the fugitives,
succeeded in rallying them, but owing to the thickness of the morning
more than 100 escaped, all of whom were killed, stripped, or taken
prisoners by the country people. Mackay continued his march with very
little halting all that day, being Sunday the 28th, and arrived late
at night at Drummond castle, in which he had a garrison. Next day he
reached Stirling with about 400 men.
On the morning after the battle--for night had thrown its curtain
over the horrors of the scene, before the extent of the carnage
could be ascertained--the field of battle and the ground between it
and the river, extending as far as the pass, presented an appalling
spectacle in the vast numbers of the dead which strewed the field,
whose mutilated bodies attested the savage and unrelenting ferocity
with which Mackay’s men had been hewn down by the Highlanders. Here
might be seen a skull which had been struck off above the ears by a
stroke from a broad-sword--there a head lying near the trunk from
which it had been severed--here an arm or a limb--there a corpse
laid open from the head to the brisket; while interspersed among
these lifeless trunks, _dejectaque membra_, were to be seen broken
pikes, small swords and muskets, which had been snapt asunder by the
athletic blows of the Lochaber axe and broad-sword.[601]
If the importance of a victory is to be reckoned by the comparative
numbers of the slain, and the brilliant achievements of the victors,
the battle of Killiecrankie may well stand high in the list of
military exploits. Considering the shortness of the combat, the
loss on the part of Mackay was prodigious. Not less than 2,000
of his men were either killed or captured. Among the slain were
Lieutenant-colonel Mackay, brother of the General, Brigadier Balfour,
and several other officers. Highland tradition reports that Balfour
was cut down by the Reverend Robert Stewart, a Catholic clergyman,
nephew to Stewart of Ballochin, for having contemptuously refused to
receive quarter when offered him by the priest. The same tradition
relates that Stewart, who was a powerful muscular man, followed
the enemy in their flight down to the river, and towards the pass,
wielding a tremendous broad-sword, with which he cut down numbers of
the fugitives, and so much did he exert himself in the use of his
fatal weapon, that, at the conclusion of the carnage, his hand had
swollen to such an extent, that it could only be extricated from the
basket-hilt of his sword, by cutting away the net-work.
But as the importance of a victory, however splendid in itself, or
distinguished by acts of individual prowess, can only be appreciated
by its results, the battle of Killiecrankie, instead of being
advantageous to the cause of King James, was, by the death of the
brave Dundee, the precursor of its ruin. After he had charged at the
head of his horse, and driven the enemy from their cannon, he was
about to proceed up the hill to bring down Sir Donald Macdonald’s
regiment, which appeared rather tardy in its motions, when he
received a musket shot in his side, through an opening of his armour,
the ball probably passing out in front through the centre of his
breastplate (See Plate of Dundee’s Armour).[602] He attempted to ride
a little, but was unable, and fell from his horse mortally wounded,
and almost immediately expired.[603] The loss on the side of Dundee
was never properly ascertained, but is supposed to have been about
900.
[Illustration: ARMOUR WORN BY VISCOUNT DUNDEE AT KILLIECRANKIE
1. Breast Plate, in possession of his Grace the Duke of Athole.
_See Page 376. Vol I._
2. Remains of Helmet in possession of J P M^cInroy Esq. of Lude,
taken out of Dundee’s grave in the church of Blair Athole in 1794.
3. Sword in possession of A Æ. Mackintosh Esq. of Mackintosh,
given to Lachlan 21^{st} Laird of Mackintosh by Dundee’s
Relations.--The hilt is silver and bears the Graham Arms--The
date on the blade is A.D. 1504.
4. Pistol, in possession of Miss Stirling Graham of
Duntrune--representative of the Claverhouse family.--In the plate
both sides of the Pistol are shown; the stock is of iron and is
richly inlaid with silver.]
Among the slain, Alister Dhu (black Alexander) the chief of
Glengarry, who, at the head of his battalion, mowed down two men at
every stroke, with his ponderous two-handed sword, had to lament the
loss of a brother, several other relatives, and still nearer and
dearer to him, of his son, Donald, surnamed Gorm, from the blueness
of his eyes. This youth, who had exhibited early proofs of bravery
worthy of his name, and the race whence he sprung, killed, it is
said, 18 of the enemy with his own hand. No less than five cousins
of Sir Donald Macdonald of the isles fell, together with the tutor
of Macdonald of Largo and his sons. Colonel Gilbert Ramsay, and the
brave laird of Pitcur, “who, like a moving castle in the shape of
men, threw fire and sword on all sides,”[604] were also numbered with
the dead on this eventful day.[605]
In the Viscount Dundee, King James lost the only man in Scotland
possessed of all the qualifications necessary for conducting to
a successful issue the great and important charge which had been
committed to him by his sovereign. Educated in the strictest
principles of toryism, he could never divest his mind of the
abstract ideas of passive obedience and hereditary right, and
to him, therefore, any attempt to resist the authority of the
sovereign, no matter how far that authority was abused, appeared
highly treasonable. Though a sincere Protestant Episcopalian, the
heresy of the successor of Charles II. as the religion of James must
have appeared to him, in no respect altered his ideas of implicit
fidelity to the sovereign, nor did his views undergo any change when
the arbitrary and unconstitutional proceedings of James seemed to
the leading men of the nation to have solved the great political
problem, when resistance should commence and obedience end.[606]
In his eye, therefore, the revolution which drove the unfortunate
James from his throne, was a great national sin, which could only
be atoned for by restoring to him his crown, an object, in the
accomplishment of which, he conceived all good men were bound to lend
a helping hand. These ideas ingrafted upon a temperament peculiarly
sanguine, made him an enthusiast in favour of hereditary right, and
his appointment by the fallen monarch as the chosen one by whose
instrumentality his restoration was to be effected, imparted a charm
to his enthusiasm which dispelled every difficulty that appeared
to obstruct the grand object of his ambition and his hopes. With an
inflexibility of purpose, which no temptation could overcome, he
steadily pursued the course which the duty he conceived he owed to
his sovereign and the natural inclination of his own mind directed
him to follow. But Dundee had not merely the will, but, what was of
no less importance, the ability, had he lived, to have executed the
commission intrusted to him, one of his highest qualifications for
such a purpose--considering the fickle and unruly bands he had to
command--being that he stood unrivalled among his contemporaries in
the art of gaining the affections of his troops, and communicating to
them a full measure of the spirit which animated himself. His death,
therefore, was a fatal blow to James’s prospects, and with him the
cause of the Stuarts may be said to have perished. Dundee and his
friend Pitcur were interred in the church of Blair-Athole. “Never
vaulted roof or marble monument covered the last abode of a more
restless and ambitious heart than that which has slept in this quiet
spot amidst peasant dust.”[607]
FOOTNOTES:
[556] General Hugh Mackay, third son of Colonel Hugh Mackay of
Scowry, was born about 1640. Soon after the Restoration in 1660, he
obtained an ensign’s commission in the Royal Scots, now the Scots
Greys, and accompanied it to France on that corps being lent by
Charles II. to the French king. In 1669 he entered the Venetian
service, in which he distinguished himself. Leaving the service of
that republic, he again went to France, where he obtained a captaincy
in Douglas’s regiment. After serving under Marshal Turenne, in the
campaign in the Netherlands, in 1672, Captain Mackay offered his
services to the Prince of Orange, who gave him the commission of
Major in one of the Scotch regiments, then serving in Holland. After
reaching the rank of Colonel in the Dutch service, Mackay was invited
to England by James II., from whom, on the 4th of June, 1685, he
received the appointment of major-general, or commander in chief, of
the forces in Scotland; and was admitted a member of the Scottish
Privy Council, by virtue of a warrant from the king, dated the
18th of the same month. But disliking the arbitrary proceedings of
James, or preferring the service of his son-in-law, Mackay resigned
his commission in 1686, and returned to Holland. The prince raised
him to the rank of Major-general, and gave him the command of the
British regiments, with which he invaded England. By a warrant
signed by William and Mary, dated from Kensington, 4th January,
1689, Mackay was appointed “Major-general of all forces whatever,
within our ancient kingdom of Scotland.” Mackay was raised to the
rank of Lieutenant-general in 1690, and was killed at the battle of
Steinkirk, 3d August, 1692.
[557] “To the regular trained officers, such an army as he commanded
was as unstable and capricious as a giddy mob. If he did not study
the peculiarities of the race, and of each individual clan, some
untoward accident was ever occurring to vex his disciplinarian
spirit, and make him suspect that the cause was ruined; and if
he did not at once recognise and yield to the peculiarities as
they occurred, a trifle might readily sacrifice the army or the
cause,--for the Highland soldier’s immediate cause was his leader or
his clan. The succession to the crown of Britain, or the preservation
of the constitution were distant and secondary objects, to be
sacrificed without hesitation to any question of precedence or
etiquette.”--Burton’s _Scotland from the Revolution_, vol. i. pp.
101-103.--“If anything good was brought him (Dundee) to eat, he sent
it to a faint or sick soldier. If a soldier was weary, he offered
to carry his arms. He kept those who were with him from sinking
under their fatigues, not so much by exhortation, as by preventing
them from attending to their sufferings. For this reason he walked
on foot with the men; now by the side of one clan, and anon by that
of another. He amused them with jokes. He flattered them with his
knowledge of their genealogies. He animated them by a recital of the
deeds of their ancestors, and of the verses of their bards. It was
one of his maxims, that no general should fight with an irregular
army, unless he was acquainted with every man he commanded. Yet,
with these habits of familiarity, the severity of his discipline was
dreadful. The only punishment he inflicted was death. ‘All other
punishments,’ he said, ‘disgraced a gentleman, and all who were
with him were of that rank; but that death was a relief from the
consciousness of crime.’ It is reported of him, that, having seen a
youth fly in his first action, he pretended he had sent him to the
rear on a message. The youth fled a second time. He brought him to
the front of the army, and saying, ‘That a gentleman’s son ought not
to fall by the hands of a common executioner,’ shot him with his own
pistol.”--Dalrymple’s _Memoirs_, part ii. p. 47.
[558] Mackay’s _Memoirs_.
[559] _Memoirs of Dundee._--Burton’s _Scotland from the Revolution_,
vol. i. p. 112.
[560] _Scotland from Revolution_, vol. i. p. 114.
[561] “Lord Athole, Lord Tarbet, and Lord Breadalbane, men of great
power in the North, were prevailed upon to give him no disturbance:
The two first because they thought themselves neglected by the new
government; the last to make himself necessary to it.”--Dalrymple’s
_Memoirs_, Part ii. p. 45.
[562] P. 38, of Bannatyne club edition.
[563] _Memoirs_, p. 46.
[564] The following letter to Macleod of Macleod shows Dundee’s
notion of his prospects at this time:--
“_For the_ LAIRD _of_ MACLEOD.[565]
“MOY, Jun 23, 1689.
“SIR,--Glengaire gave me ane account of the substance of a
letter he receaved from yow: I shall only tell yow, that if you
heasten not to land your men, I am of opinion yow will have
litle occasion to do the king great service; for if he land in
the west of Scotland, yow will come too late, as I believe yow
will thinck yourself by the news I have to tell yow. The Prince
of Orange hath wreaten to the Scots councell not to fatig his
troops any more by following us in the hills, but to draw them
together in a body to the west; and, accordingly, severall of the
forces that were in Pearthshire and Angus, are drawn to Edinr.,
and some of Mackay’s regments are marcht that way from him....
Some of the French fleet hath been seen amongst the islands, and
hath taken the two Glasgow frigats. The king, being thus master
by sea and land, hath nothing to do but bring over his army,
which many people fancy is landed alraidy in the west. He will
have little to oppose him there, and will probably march towards
England; so that we who are in the graitest readiness will
have ado to join him. I have received by Mr. Hay a commission
of lieutenant-general, which miscairied by Breidy. I have also
receaved a double of a letter miscairied by Breidy to me, and
a new letter, dated the 18th of May; both which are so kind,
that I am asham’d to tell. He counts for great services, which
I am conscious to myself that I have hardly done my deutie. He
promises not only to me, but to all that will join, such marks
of favor, as after ages shall see what honour and advantage
there is, in being loyall. He sayes, in express terms, that
his favours shall vy with our loyalty. He hath, by the same
letters, given full power of councell to such councellors here,
as shall be joined in the king’s service, and given us power,
with the rest of his freends, to meet in a convention, by his
authority, to counteract the mock convention at Edinr., whom he
hath declaired traitours, and comanded all his loyall subjects
to make warr against them; in obedience to which, I have called
all the clannes. Captain of Glenrannald[566] is near us these
severall days; the laird of Baro[567] is there with his men. I am
persuaded Sir Donald[568] is there by this. M’Clean[569] lands in
Morven to-morrow certainly. Apen,[570] Glenco,[571] Lochell,[572]
Glengaire,[573] Keppoch,[574] are all raidy. Sir Alexander[575]
and Largo[576] have been here with there men all this while
with me, so that I hope we will go out of Lochaber about thre
thousand. Yow may judge what we will gett in Strathharig,
Badenock, Athol, Marr, and the duke of Gordon’s lands, besides
the loyall shires of Bamf, Aberdeen, Merns, Angus, Perth, and
Stirling. I hope we will be masters of the north, as the king’s
army will be of the south. I had almost forgot to tell you of my
Lord Broadalban,[577] who I suppose will now come to the feelds.
Dumbeth, with two hundred hors and eight hundred foot, are said
to be endeavouring to join us. My L. Seaforth[578] will be in a
few dayes from Irland to rais his men for the king’s service.
Now, I have layd the whole business before yow, yow will easily
know what is fitt for yow to do. All I shall say further is, to
repeat and renew the desyre of my former letter, and assure yow
that I am,
“Sir
“Your most humble servant,
“DUNDIE.
“Yow will receave the king’s letter to yow.”
[565] The original of this letter, which is addressed to John Macleod
of Macleod, is in possession of the present Laird of Macleod, his
descendant.
[566] Allan Macdonald, captain of Clanranald, then under age. Ronald
Macdonald of Benbecula, his tutor, attended him.
[567] R. Macneil of Barra.
[568] Sir Donald Macdonald of Slate.
[569] Sir John Maclean of Dowart and Morven.
[570] Stewart of Appin.
[571] Alexander Macdonald, or MacIan of Glencoe.
[572] Sir Ewen Cameron of Locheil.
[573] Alexander Macdonell, younger of Glengary.
[574] Dundee “used to call him Coll of the Cowes, because he
found them out when they were driven to the hills out of the
way.”--_Deposition of Lieutenant Colt_ in appendix to acts of
parliament, 1690.
[575] Sir Alexander Maclean of Otter.
[576] Alexander Macdonald of Largo.
[577] John, first Earl of Breadalbane.
[578] Kenneth, fourth Earl of Seaforth.
[579]
“_For the_ EARL _of_ MELFORT.[580]
“MOY IN LOCHABER, _June 27, 1689_.
After exculpating himself from a charge made against him by
the Earl, of his name having been ‘made use of for carrying on
designs against the Earl,’ Dundee thus proceeds:--
“When we first came out I had but fifty pounds of powder; more
I could not get, all the great towns and seaports were in
rebellion, and had seized the powder, and would sell none. But
I had one advantage, the Highlanders will not fire above once,
and then take to the broadsword.... The advocate[581] is gone
to England, a very honest man, firm beyond belief; and Athol is
gone too, who did not know what to do. Earl Hume, who is very
frank, is taken prisoner to Edinburgh, but he will be let out
on security. Earl Breadalbin keeps close in a strong house; he
has and pretends the gout. Earl Errol stays at home; so does
Aberdeen. Earl Marshall is at Edinburgh, but does not meddle.
Earl Lauderdale is right, and at home. The Bishops, I know not
where they are. They are now the kirk invisible. I will be
forced to open the letter, and send copies attested to them, and
keep the original, till I can find out our primate. The poor
ministers are sorely oppressed over all. They generally stand
right. Duke Queensberry was present at the cross, when their
new mock King was proclaimed, and I hear, voted for him, though
not for the throne vacant. His brother the Lieutenant General,
some say is made an Earl. He has come down to Edinburgh, and is
gone up again. He is the old man, and has abused me strangely,
for he swore to me to make amends. Tarbat is a great villain.
Besides what he has done at Edinburgh, he has endeavoured to
seduce Lochiel, by offers of money, which is under his hand.
He is now gone up to secure his faction, which is melting, the
two Dalrymples and others against Skelmarly,[582] Polwart,
Cardross, Ross, and others now joined with that worthy prince,
Duke Hamilton. M. Douglas is now a great knave, as well as beast;
as is Glencairne, Morton, and Eglinton, and even Cassillis is
gone astray, misled by Gibby.[583] Panmure keeps right, and at
home, so does Strathmore, Southesk, and Kinnaird. Old Airly is at
Edinburgh under caution, so is Balcarras and Dunmore. Stormont is
declared fugitive for not appearing. All these will break out,
and many more, when the King lands, or any from him. Most of the
gentry on this side the Forth, and many on the other, will do
so too. But they suffer mightily in the mean time; and will be
forced to submit, if there be not relief sent very soon. The Duke
of Gordon, they say, wanted nothing for holding out but hopes
of relief. Earl of Dunfermling stays constantly with me, and so
does Lord Dunkell, Pitcur, and many other gentlemen, who really
deserve well, for they suffer great hardships. When the troops
land there must be blank commissions sent for horse and foot, for
them and others that will join.”
[580] This letter was printed by Macpherson from the Nairne papers.
[581] Sir George Mackenzie.
[582] Sir James Montgomery.
[583] Dr. Gilbert Burnet, the historian.
[584] Mackay’s _Memoirs_.
[585] No. 14 of Appendix to Mackay’s _Memoirs_, p. 245.
[586] Balcarras, p. 68. Stewart’s _Sketches_, vol. i. p. 62.
[587] No. 15 of Appendix to Mackay’s _Memoirs_, p. 246.
[588] Mackay’s _Memoirs_, p. 51.
[589] “Mackay’s force was certainly not double that of his
adversary; but had it borne a far greater proportion, the trained
warriors and command of the ground, when in the hands of one well
fitted to use them, were advantages outweighing a large numerical
preponderance.”--Burton’s _Scotland from Revolution_, vol. i. p. 131.
[590] Balcarras, p. 69.
[591] Dalrymple’s _Memoirs_, part ii. p. 56.
[592] _Memoirs_, p. 51.
[593] Macpherson’s _Original Papers_, vol. i. p. 369.
[594] Mackay’s army is said to have outwinged Dundee’s by nearly a
quarter of a mile, which obliged the latter to leave large intervals
between each clan. On this account there was a deficiency of troops
in Dundee’s centre.--Memoir of Dundee in _Miscellanea Scotica_, vol.
iii.
[595] “The night before the battle, Dundee having reflected that the
Highlanders had not been tried in general actions since the battle
of Philiphaugh, which had been fought 40 years before, and being
desirous to put their courage to the test, gave an alarm, and caused
a false attack to be made upon his own camp. In an instant he found
every man at his post and firm in it. The event of the stratagem
removed the diffidence of the general, and confirmed the confidence
of the soldiers.”--Dalrymple’s _Memoirs_, part ii. p. 57.
[596] Stewart’s _Sketches_, vol. i. p. 63.
[597] Among the papers of the exiled prince’s secretary is a very
well composed document, called “Lord Dundee’s speech to his troops
before the battle of Killiecrankie,” which he certainly never
delivered, for the excellent reason that not a tenth of his audience
could have understood a word of it, and he was not a man tempted
either by capacity or inclination to the useless composition of
flowing sentences. Burton’s _Scotland from Revolution_, vol. i. p.
132. Burton, however, thinks we may readily believe General Mackay’s
statement as to the few homely sentences which he says he dropped to
his men.
[598] Macpherson’s _Original Papers_, vol i. p 371.
[599] _Memoirs_, p. 57.
[600] In a conversation respecting the battle between General Wade
and an old Highlander, who had fought at Killiecrankie, the latter
is reported to have spoken lightly of Mackay as a commander, calling
him a great fool, because he did not put his baggage in front of his
army at Killiecrankie. Wade dissented, of course, but the old man
insisted that the baggage should have been placed before the line,
in which case Mackay, he observed, would have gained the battle, as
the Highlanders would have first attacked the baggage, and would have
thus fallen an easy prey to Mackay’s army.
[601] In allusion to this battle, the author of the memoirs of
Viscount Dundee, (in _His. Scot._, vol. iii.,) says, “Then the
Highlanders fired, threw down their fusils, rushed in upon the enemy
with sword, target, and pistol, who did not maintain their ground two
minutes after the Highlanders were amongst them; and I dare be bold
to say, that were scarce ever such strokes given in Europe as were
given that day by the Highlanders. Many of General Mackay’s officers
and soldiers were cut down through the skull and neck to the very
breast; others had skulls cut off above their ears like night-caps;
some soldiers had both their bodies and cross-belts cut through at
one blow; pikes and small swords were cut like willows; and whoever
doubts of this, may consult the witnesses of the tragedy.”
[602] Balcarras.
[603] The authenticity of the letter alleged to have been written
by Dundee after he received his wound, may well be doubted. 1st.
No contemporary writer mentions its existence. 2d. It is probable
that Dundee died as stated in the text. King James says, that “when
crossing over the plaine to give some orders on the left where the
enemy made the most opposition, he was most unfortunately _killed_
by a random shot.” Clarke’s _James II._, vol. ii. p. 352. See the
authorities referred to by Mr. Smythe of Methven, in a note on the
letter in the Bannatyne collection of Dundee’s letters. These are
supported by the following note, written on a copy of Balcarras’s
_Memoirs_, in the Library of Christ Church, Oxford, upon the passage
relative to a bundle of papers found lying near Dundee on the field.
“N.B.--I spoke with some that were at that fight, and saw the
Viscount of Dundee’s corpse naked upon the ground, and was of the
number that wrapt it in a pladd, and brought it off the field to the
Blair of Athole; they said they saw no papers, nor was there any such
rumour among them.” ...
His Grace the Duke of Athole has kindly sent us the following note
on this matter. “Lord Dundee is reported to have been watering his
horse at a spring within gunshot of Urrard House, and at the same
time lifted his left arm to point or give some directions. At this
instant he was shot out of a window through the chinks of his armour,
_i.e._ between back- and breast-plates, which must have gaped open.
The left side of the breastplate, inside, is stained apparently with
blood, and the ball must have passed out from back to front through
the hole in the centre (See Plate). An old woman who died near here
(Blair) within the memory of persons still living, used to relate how
her grandfather was skulking on the hill above and saw Lord Dundee
fall; and his brother, who was the hostler at the inn at Blair, saw
him carried in _there_, and said that Lord Dundee died in the middle
room, upstairs, of the inn. I think I have seen it stated elsewhere
that he was taken to the Castle, but I should be inclined to believe
the country tradition.”
_The alleged letter from_ DUNDEE _to the_ KING _is as follows_:--
“SIR,
It hath pleased God to give your forces a great victory over
the rebels, in which three-fourths of them are fallen under
the weight of our swords. I might say much of the action, if I
had not the honour to command it; but of 5,000 men, which was
the best computation I could make of the rebels, it is certain
there have not escaped 1,200. We have not lost full out 900.
This absolute victory made us masters of the field and enemy’s
baggage, which I gave to the soldiers; who, to do them all right,
both officers and common men. Highlands, Lowlands, and Irish,
behaved themselves with equal gallantry to what I ever saw in the
hottest battles fought abroad by disciplined armies; and this
M’Kay’s old soldiers felt on this occasion. I cannot now, Sir,
be more particular; but take leave to assure your majesty the
kingdom is generally disposed to your service, and impatiently
wait for your coming; and this success will bring in the rest
of the nobility and gentry, having had all their assurance for
it, except the notorious rebels. Therefore, Sir, for God’s sake,
assist us, though it be with such another detachment as you sent
us before, especially of horse and dragoons; and you will crown
our beginning with a complete success, and yourself with an
entire possession of your ancient hereditary kingdom of Scotland.
My wounds forbid me to enlarge to your Majesty at this time,
though they tell me they are not mortal. However, I beseech your
Majesty to believe, whether I live or die,
I am entirely yours,
DUNDEE.”
“The letter is so happily expressed as to be a forgery on its face;
for it is not to be imagined that he who vainly struggled after
grammar with all his senses with him, would command it when mortally
wounded, and utterly unfit for that species of command with which he
was familiar.”--Burton, vol. i. p. 134.
[604] _Memoirs of Dundee._
[605] “In this battle Lochiel was attended by the son of his
foster-brother. This faithful adherent followed him like his shadow,
ready to assist him with his sword, or cover him from the shot of the
enemy. Soon after the battle began, the chief missed his friend from
his side, and turning round to look what had become of him, saw him
lying on his back, with his breast pierced by an arrow. He had hardly
breath before he expired to tell Lochiel, that, seeing an enemy, a
Highlander in General Mackay’s army, aiming at him with a bow and
arrow from the rear, he sprung behind him, and thus sheltered him
from instant death. This is a species of duty not often practised,
perhaps, by an aide-de-camp of the present day.”--_Stewart’s
Sketches._
[606] “He became a fanatic of the order he found himself in,--the
order of the cavalier who is devoted to his monarch and his monarch’s
allies, aristocratic and hierarchical. His fanaticism was that of the
gentleman. It is not common, perhaps, to associate the reproachful
term, ‘fanatic,’ with a word so expressive of estimable social
qualities as this word ‘gentleman;’ but as there is no hesitation in
applying it to religious opinions carried to excess, surely there can
be no desecration in applying it to social qualities when they become
offensively prurient.”--Burton’s _Scotland from Revolution_, vol. i.
p. 99.
[607] Burton, vol. i. p. 134.