A.D. 1714-1715.
BRITISH SOVEREIGN:--George I., 1714-1727.
Proceedings of the Whigs--Declaration of the Chevalier de St.
George--Arrival of George I. in England--Conduct of the Earl of
Mar--Government measures--Intrigues of the Jacobites--The Earl
of Mar--Leaves England for Scotland--The “Hunting match”--The
Chevalier de St. George proclaimed by Mar, who raises the
standard of revolt in Braemar--Death of Louis XIV.--Manifesto
issued by the Jacobites.
The dismissal of the Earl of Oxford from the office of
lord-high-treasurer was gratifying to the Jacobites, whose
expectations he had disappointed, and they naturally waited with
anxiety for the appointment of his successor, whom they confidently
imagined would be Bolingbroke, his rival, who was supposed, on juster
grounds, to favour their views, and to whom they had transferred
their confidence. But all their hopes were disappointed by the
promotion of the Duke of Shrewsbury to the treasury, a nobleman
distinguished for modesty and disinterestedness, and a devoted
attachment to his country.
To counteract still farther the schemes of Bolingbroke, all the
members of the privy council in London, or the neighbourhood, had
been invited, on the proposal of Somerset and Argyle, to attend
the council without distinction of party, in consequence of which
Lord Somers, and many other Whig noblemen, repaired to Kensington.
The presence of such a number of the Whigs completely overawed
the Tories, who, confused, distracted, and disunited, were either
unable or afraid to oppose the measures proposed by the former
for effectually securing the Protestant succession, and gave a
tacit acquiescence to them. Every precaution, in short, had been
taken to prevent any movement of the Jacobite party in favour of
the Chevalier, and an express was sent to the Elector of Hanover,
informing him that the physicians despaired of the queen’s life, and
desiring him to repair to England with all convenient speed.
As soon as the death of the queen was announced, the lords of the
privy council met, and drew up and issued a proclamation the same
day, declaring that by the death of Queen Anne, the imperial crowns
of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, had “solely and rightfully
come to the High and Mighty Prince George, Elector of Brunswick,
Lunenburg,” in consequence of which, the prince was immediately
proclaimed in London, by the heralds at arms, with the usual
solemnities, and on Thursday the 5th of August, the same ceremony was
repeated at the market cross of Edinburgh, by the deputy-lord-lyon,
king at arms, in presence of the magistrates and town council of the
city, the judges of the supreme courts, a considerable number of the
nobility, and a large assemblage of the inhabitants. The Jacobites
preserved a prudent silence on this occasion, but the supporters of
the government at Edinburgh took care, notwithstanding, to provide
against any contingency. They, accordingly, cut off a part of the
wooden bridge before the castle gate, and drew up the remaining
part to cover the gate itself. They also threw up an intrenchment
between the gate and the castle wall, on which they posted a
party of soldiers. In addition to these precautions, Major-general
Wightman, the commander of the forces, ordered the different
detachments quartered at Dundee, and other places, to join his camp
in the vicinity of Edinburgh, with which order they immediately
complied.[674]
Pursuant to an act of the late reign, the parliament met on the day
the queen died. The first four days were occupied in swearing in the
members, and on the 5th of August, the parliament was opened by the
Lord Chancellor, in name of the lords justices, on whom the interim
administration of the government had devolved by an act of the 4th
and 5th of Queen Anne. Both houses thereafter voted loyal addresses
to his majesty, in which, after congratulating him upon his accession
to the throne, they expressed their anxiety for his safe and speedy
arrival in Great Britain. To these addresses his majesty returned
most gracious answers, which were reported to both houses on the 25th
of August, on which day the parliament was prorogued till the 23d of
September.
When the Chevalier de St. George heard of the death of his sister,
Queen Anne, he set off from his residence in Lorraine, to Paris,
to crave the aid of the King of France, in vindication of his
hereditary rights; but Louis declined to interfere, on the ground
that he had, by the treaty of Utrecht, acknowledged the Protestant
succession. Disappointed in his application, he retired first to
Luneville, and afterwards to Plombieres, whence, on the 29th of
August, he issued a declaration as King James III., asserting his
indefeasible right to the crowns of Great Britain and Ireland, and
solemnly protesting against every act that had been already done, or
that should thereafter be done to the prejudice of his hereditary
rights. He says, that although he had been obliged by the treaty to
remove from France, that he had still continued to have his kingdoms
and his people in view, and that he had never ceased to hope, that
God would in time open his people’s eyes, and convince them not only
of the notorious injustice done to the crown and him, but of the
dangerous consequences thereof for themselves; and that as he could
not see, without grief and sorrow, their blood and treasure lavished
in the late war, in opposition to his rights, so he could not now
with less sorrow, see them exposed to be subjected to an arbitrary
power, and become a prey to foreigners--that the settlement of the
succession upon one who was so far removed from the regular line,
was opposed to the maxims of the English constitution--that the
Elector of Brunswick was, besides, a foreigner, a powerful prince,
and absolute in his own country--that he was ignorant of the laws,
manners, customs, and language, and supported by a good many of his
own people--that there had been many thousands of aliens domiciled
in England, for the last thirty years, who would be ready to stand
by him upon all occasions--that the subversion of such a sacred and
fundamental principle as hereditary right, would lead to endless wars
and divisions, and that as there were many other princes, who had
better pretensions to the crown than the Elector of Brunswick, the
nation could never enjoy any lasting peace or happiness, till the
succession was again settled “in the rightful line.”[675]
Meanwhile, certain movements in Scotland, among the friends of
the Chevalier, indicated to the government that an insurrection
was intended. Bodies of armed men were seen marching towards
the Highlands, and a party of Highlanders appeared in arms near
Inverlochy, which was, however, soon dispersed by a detachment from
the garrison. In this situation of matters, the lords justices sent
down to Scotland a considerable number of half-pay officers, chiefly
of the Scots regiments, to officer the militia of the country, under
the direction of Major-general Whitham, then commander-in-chief in
Scotland. These prompt measures taken by the government, alarmed the
Jacobites, who, after several consultations, retired to their homes.
The Duke of Gordon was, by order of the justices, confined in the
city of Edinburgh, and the Marquis of Huntly, and Lord Drummond,
in their respective residences of Brahan, and castle Drummond. The
last, on hearing that an order for his seizure had arrived, fled to
the Highlands, but offered bail for his good behaviour. At the same
time, Captain Campbell, of Glendaruel, who had obtained a commission
from the late Tory administration, to raise an independent company in
the Highlands, was apprehended at Inverlochy, and carried prisoner
to the capital, and Sir Donald M’Donald of Slait, was also seized
and committed to the castle of Edinburgh.[676] As the lords justices
had received information that the Chevalier intended to land in the
kingdom, they, on the 15th of September, issued a proclamation, in
terms of an act passed in the last session of parliament, offering a
reward of £100,000 sterling for his apprehension, should he land or
attempt to land in Great Britain.[677]
King George, after vesting the government of his German dominions
in a council, embarked for England on the 16th of September, and
landed at Greenwich on the 18th, where he was received by the Duke
of Northumberland, captain of the life-guards, and by the lords
justices, and a large number of the nobility and other persons of
distinction. Among those who presented themselves on this occasion
was the Earl of Mar, one of the secretaries of state, but the king
had been so prepossessed against this nobleman, and indeed against
all the heads of the Tory party, that he did not vouchsafe even to
notice him. The earl suspecting that means had been used to prejudice
his majesty against him, had, in order to take off any unfavourable
impression which these might have produced upon the king’s mind,
written a letter to George when in Holland on his way to England,
congratulating him upon his accession to the throne, stating the
services which he had rendered to the government, and assuring his
majesty that he should find him as faithful and dutiful a subject
and servant as ever any of his family, which had been always loyal,
had been to the crown, or as he had been to his late mistress, the
queen. With the same view, it is supposed, or to throw the government
off its guard, Mar caused a letter to be addressed to him by some
of the heads and branches of the Jacobite clans expressive of their
loyalty to King George, and declaring, that as they had been always
ready to follow his lordship’s directions in serving Queen Anne,
they were equally ready to concur with him in faithfully serving
his majesty.[678] But the prejudices of the king against Mar were
too deeply rooted to be overcome, and within eight days after the
king’s arrival in England, Mar was dismissed from office, and the
Duke of Montrose appointed in his stead. It was very natural for
the king to prefer the Whig party, by whose influence he had been
raised to the throne; but unfortunately for the nation, he carried
this predilection too far. A wise and prudent prince would have
endeavoured to conciliate the adverse faction by acts of kindness,
but George turned his back upon the entire body of the Tories, and
threw himself completely into the arms of the Whigs, who alone shared
in the royal favour, and who used every art to confirm their own
interest, and extend their connexions. The consequence was, that a
spirit of the most violent discontent was excited throughout the
whole kingdom, and the populace, led on by the Tories or Jacobites,
raised tumults in different parts of the kingdom. The Chevalier de
St. George availing himself of this excitement, transmitted by the
French mail copies of the manifesto, or declaration, which he had
issued from Plombieres to the chief nobility, particularly the Dukes
of Shrewsbury, Marlborough, and Argyle, who delivered them to the
secretaries of state. The king, imagining that the Duke of Lorraine
was privy to the preparation and transmission of the manifesto,
refused an audience to the Marquis de Lamberti, minister from the
duke; but although the duke, on being informed by his minister of
the circumstance, denied most pointedly that he was accessory to the
affair, and declared that the Chevalier took up his residence in
Lorraine by the directions of the king of France, the king persisted
in refusing an audience to De Lamberti till his master should remove
the Chevalier from his dominions.
The parliament having been dissolved, the king, in the month of
January, 1715, issued an extraordinary proclamation, calling a new
parliament. In this proclamation he complained of the evil designs
of the disaffected, and of the misrepresentation of his principles
and conduct which had been industriously circulated throughout the
kingdom, expressing his hopes that his loving subjects would send up
to parliament the fittest persons to redress the present disorders,
and to provide for the peace and happiness of the kingdoms. In order
to secure the interest of those in civil and military employments in
the elections, a proclamation was issued on the same day, continuing
all persons who had been duly invested in their offices, civil or
military, before the demise of the queen, and who had not been since
removed therefrom, for the space of six months from the date of the
proclamation, unless his majesty should see cause to remove them
sooner. A warmly contested election followed in England, but although
the Tories made every exertion, and set up the usual shout of the
church in danger, a cry which was responded to by the populace in
many places, a majority of Whigs was returned. The Whigs were still
more successful in Scotland, where a majority of the sixteen peers,
and forty out of forty-five members returned to the commons, were in
the interest of the government. The principal struggle in Scotland
was in Inverness-shire, between M’Kenzie of Preston-hall, who was
supported by Glengarry and the other Jacobite chiefs, and Forbes of
Culloden, brother of the celebrated President Forbes, who carried the
election by the interest of Brigadier-general Grant, and the friends
of Lord Lovat.
The new parliament assembled on the 19th of March at Westminster, and
was for some time chiefly occupied in investigating the conduct of
the late ministers, against some of whom measures of extreme rigour
were resolved upon. But these proceedings were interrupted by the
necessity of devising means for the suppression of a growing spirit
of discontent and disaffection, which seemed to gain ground daily in
England, of which an insurrection in Scotland, and an invasion from
abroad, seemed about to ensue as inevitable results. To put an end
to future rioting, a bill was passed, by which it was declared, that
if any persons, to the number of twelve, riotously, tumultuously,
and unlawfully assembled, should continue together for an hour after
having been required to disperse by a justice of peace or other
officer, by proclamation publicly read,--and of which a form was
given in the act, they should be guilty of felony, without benefit
of clergy. When the king attended in the House of Lords on the 13th
of July, to give his assent to this and other bills, he informed
both houses that a rebellion had actually begun at home, and that an
invasion was threatened from abroad, and he, therefore, solicited
the commons to enable him to provide for the defence of the kingdom.
The preparations of the Chevalier de St. George for a descent upon
Great Britain were indeed already far advanced. Elated by the
intelligence which had been sent him from England by the Tories, of
the disaffection of the people to the government, and by the promises
of support which he had received from them, should he land in Great
Britain, the prince had applied a second time for succour to Louis,
who, notwithstanding the treaty of Utrecht, supplied him privately
with money, and allowed a ship to be fitted out for him, at his own
expense, in the port of Havre. The cause of the Chevalier had now
been openly espoused by the Duke of Ormond and Lord Bolingbroke, both
of whom having retired to France, had been attainted by the British
parliament without a hearing, and were busily employed corresponding
with the Tories of England. These intrigues and preparations were
early discovered by the Earl of Stair, the British ambassador at
Paris, and communicated by him to the ministry. Proceeding upon this
information, the parliament suspended the Habeas Corpus act, and
renewed the offer of one hundred thousand pounds to any person or
persons who should seize the Pretender, dead or alive. Great naval
and military preparations were made, and the trained bands were kept
in readiness to suppress tumults.
As early as May, a report was current among the Jacobites of Scotland
of the Chevalier’s design to make a descent, in consequence of
which they began to bestir themselves, by providing arms, horses,
&c. Lockhart of Carnwath, a very warm partisan of the Chevalier,
while “solacing” himself, as he says, with the expectation of
hearing “great and good news,” had his house surrounded by a strong
detachment of Lord Shannon’s regiment of foot, which carried him
prisoner to the castle of Edinburgh, by virtue of a warrant “under
the Elector of Hanover’s own hand.” The apprehension of Lockhart
served as a signal to the other Jacobites in Scotland, against whom
warrants were issued, all of whom escaped, with the exception of
the Earls of Home and Wigton, who were taken up, and also committed
prisoners to the castle.[680]
Of John Erskine, the 11th Earl of Mar, the chief leader in the
ensuing insurrection, it may be proper to say a few words. Following
the footsteps of his father, who joined the revolution party, merely
because he considered it his interest so to do, the young earl, on
entering into public life, attached himself to the party then in
power, at the head of which was the Duke of Queensberry, the leader
of the Scottish Whigs. He took the oaths and his seat in parliament
in September, 1696, was sworn in a privy councillor the following
year, and was afterwards appointed to the command of a regiment of
foot, and invested with the order of the Thistle. In 1704, when the
Whigs were superseded by the country party, the earl, pursuant to
the line of conduct he intended to follow, of making his politics
subservient to his interest, immediately paid court to the new
administration, by placing himself at the head of such of the Duke
of Queensberry’s friends as opposed the Marquis of Tweeddale and his
party. In this situation he showed so much dexterity, and managed
his opposition with so much art and address, that he was considered
by the Tories as a man of probity, and well inclined to the exiled
family. Afterwards, when the Whig party came again into power, he
gave them his support, and became very zealous in promoting all the
measures of the court, particularly the treaty of union, for which
he presented the draught of an act in parliament, in 1705. To reward
his exertions, he was, after the prorogation of the parliament,
appointed secretary of state for Scotland, instead of the Marquis of
Annandale, who was displaced, because he was suspected of holding a
correspondence with the “Squadron,” who were inclined to support the
succession to the crown without, rather than with the proposed union.
His lordship was chosen one of the sixteen representative peers in
1707, and re-elected at the general election the following year, and
in 1710 and 1713. By the share he had taken in bringing about the
union, Mar had rendered himself very unpopular in Scotland; but he
endeavoured to regain the favour of his countrymen, by attending a
deputation of Scottish members, consisting of the Duke of Argyle,
himself, Cockburn younger of Ormiston, and Lockhart of Carnwath,
who waited on Queen Anne in 1712, to inform her of their resolution
to move for a repeal of the union with England. When the Earl of
Findlater brought forward a motion for repeal in the House of Lords,
Mar spoke strongly in favour of it, and pressed the dissolution of
the union as the only means to preserve the peace of the island.[681]
He was made a privy-councillor in 1708, and on the death of the Duke
of Queensberry in 1713, the earl was again appointed secretary of
state for Scotland, and thus, for the second time, enlisted himself
under the banners of Toryism; but an end was put to his political
tergiversation by his abrupt and unceremonious dismissal from office
by George I., and he vowed revenge.
Though not possessed of shining talents, he made ample amends for
their deficiencies by artifice and an insinuating and courteous
deportment, and managed his designs with such prudence and
circumspection as to render it extremely difficult to ascertain his
object when he desired concealment; by which conduct “he showed
himself,” in the opinion of a contemporary, “to be a man of good
sense, but bad morals.”[682] The versatility of his politics was
perhaps owing rather to the peculiar circumstances in which he was
placed than to any innate viciousness of disposition. He was a
Jacobite from principle, but as the fortunes of his house had been
greatly impaired in the civil war by its attachment to the Stuarts,
and as, upon his entrance into public life, he found the cause of the
exiled family at a low ebb, he sought to retrieve the losses which
his ancestors had sustained; while, at the same time, he gratified
his ambition, by aspiring to power, which he could only hope to
acquire by attaching himself to the existing government. The loss of
a place of £5,000 a-year, without any chance of ever again enjoying
the sweets of office, was gall and wormwood to such a man. This
disappointment, and the studied insult he had received from the king,
operating upon a selfish and ambitious spirit, drove him into open
rebellion, with no other view than the gratification of his revenge.
But whatever were his qualifications in the cabinet, he was without
military experience, and consequently unfit to command an army, as
the result showed.
On the eve of Mar’s departure from England to place himself at the
head of the intended insurrection in Scotland, he resolved to show
himself at court; and, accordingly, he appeared in the presence of
King George on the 1st of August, with all the complaisance of a
courtier, and with that affability of demeanour for which he was
so distinguished. What his motives were for thus needlessly laying
himself open to the charge of studied duplicity by confronting a
sovereign whose throne he was about to attempt to overturn, it is
difficult to conjecture. Was it to solace his offended pride, or
to show the world the hardihood of his determination to unfurl the
standard of revolt, that he had the cool daring, in presence of the
nobles of the land, to look in the face the man against whom he had
inwardly vowed to wage war? Or was his object, in thus appearing as
if no treasonable design could be in his contemplation, intended as
a feint to deceive the court and lull suspicion, so as to enable him
the more effectually to conceal the preparations he had made for his
intended departure? All of these questions might be fairly answered
in the affirmative, as being in perfect conformity with the earl’s
character.
Having disguised himself by changing his usual dress, he embarked
at Gravesend on the 2d of August, 1715, on board a vessel bound for
Newcastle, accompanied by Major-general Hamilton and Colonel Hay,
and attended by two servants. On arriving at Newcastle he and his
party went on board another vessel bound for the Frith of Forth,
the property of one Spence, and were landed at Elie, a small port
on the Fife coast, near the mouth of the Frith. During the great
civil war, and for many years thereafter, a landing in Fife in
support of the Stuarts would have been a dangerous attempt, but
the opinions of many of the Fife people had, of late, undergone a
complete revolution; and, at the time in question, Fife had, as the
Jacobites would have said, many “honest” men, or in other words,
persons who were warmly attached to the interests of the exiled
family. From Elie, Mar proceeded to Crail, where he was met by Sir
Alexander Erskine, the Lord Lyon, and other friends of the Jacobite
interest, who accompanied him to the house of “the Honest Laird,”
a name by which John Bethune of Balfour, a stanch Jacobite, was
commonly known. After remaining a few days in Fife, Mar paid a visit
to his brother-in-law, the Earl of Kinnoul, at his seat of Dupplin
in the county of Perth, whence he departed on Thursday the 18th of
August, and crossed the Tay about two miles below Perth, with 40
horse, on his way to his seat of Kildrummy, in the Braes of Mar. On
the following day he despatched letters to the principal Jacobites,
inviting them to attend a grand hunting-match at Braemar, on the
27th of August. As the government was on the alert, and watched very
narrowly any unusual assemblages, the Jacobites had frequently before
had recourse to this and similar expedients to enable them to concert
their measures without exciting the suspicion of the government.[683]
That the earl had matured his plans before coming to Scotland, and
that the Jacobites were let into the secret of his designs, is
evident from the fact that, as early as the 6th of August, those
in Edinburgh and the neighbourhood were aware of his intention to
come down to Scotland. On the following morning the Honourable
John Dalzel, a captain on half pay, sent in a resignation of his
commission, that he might join with greater freedom the standard of
the earl.
Under pretence of attending the hunting-match, a considerable number
of noblemen and gentlemen arrived at Aboyne, in Aberdeenshire, about
the time appointed. Among these were the Marquis of Huntly, eldest
son of the Duke of Gordon; the Marquis of Tullibardine, eldest son
of the Duke of Athole; the Earls of Nithsdale, Marischal, Traquair,
Errol, Southesk, Carnwath, Seaforth, Linlithgow, and others; the
Viscounts Kilsyth, Kenmure, Kingston, and Stormont; Lords Rollo,
Duffus, Drummond, Strathallan, Ogilvie, and Nairne; and about
twenty-six gentlemen of influence in the Highlands, among whom were
Generals Hamilton and Gordon, Glengary, Campbell of Glendaruel, and
the lairds of Auchterhouse and Auldbar.[684]
After the meeting had assembled, the earl proceeded to address his
friends in a regular and well-ordered speech. He began by expressing
his sorrow for having been instrumental in forwarding the union of
the two kingdoms. He informed them that his eyes were now opened, and
that he clearly perceived the error he had committed; that he would
therefore do every thing in his power to make his countrymen again a
free people, and restore to them their ancient liberties which had
been surrendered into the hands of the English by the accursed treaty
of union. That this treaty, which had already done so much injury to
Scotland, was calculated to inflict additional grievances upon it,
and that such were the designs of the English appeared evident by
the measures which had been daily pursued ever since the Elector of
Hanover had ascended the throne. That this prince regarded neither
the welfare of his people, nor their religion; but had committed the
charge of both entirely to a set of men who, while they stuck to the
Protestant succession, made such alterations in church and state as
they thought fit. That they had already begun to encroach upon the
liberties of both, on which account he had resolved to vindicate
their rights by placing the lawful sovereign, James VIII., who had
promised to hear their grievances and redress their wrongs, upon the
throne of his ancestors. He then informed them of his determination
to take up arms in behalf of his lawful king: that he would summon
all the fencible men among his own tenantry, and with them hazard
his life in the cause; and he exhorted all those assembled to follow
his example. To encourage them to do so, he assured them that there
would be a general rising in England in support of the cause; that
they would receive powerful assistance from France, whither the Duke
of Ormond and Lord Bolingbroke had gone to induce Louis XIV. to aid
and assist them with men and money; and that the Duke of Berwick
would certainly land in the West of England with a large force.
That there were thousands of persons throughout the kingdom who had
solemnly pledged themselves to him, and to one another, to join
him in deposing King George, and establishing James VIII. on the
throne. He then informed them that he had received letters (which he
exhibited) under the hand of James himself, from Lorraine, promising
to come over to Scotland and place his person under the protection
of the valour and fidelity of his Scottish subjects; and that, in
the meantime, ships, provided with arms, ammunition, and other
military stores, would be sent over from France as soon as a landing
port should be fixed upon. He thereupon produced, or stated that
he had in his possession, a commission from James, appointing him
his Lieutenant-general, and commander of all the Jacobite forces in
Scotland, and informed the meeting that he was furnished with money,
and that an arrangement had been made by which he would be enabled to
pay regularly the troops that should be raised, so that no gentleman
who might join his standard, with his followers, would be put to any
expense, and the country would be quite relieved from the burden
of supporting the war. After the earl had finished his harangue,
the meeting unanimously resolved to take up arms in support of the
Chevalier; and after taking an oath of fidelity to the earl as the
representative of James VIII. and to each other, the persons present
took leave of him, and promised to return immediately to their
estates and raise their men, and to hold themselves in readiness to
join the earl on the first summons. To enlist the feelings of the
people in favour of the prince, copies of his manifesto, of which
each individual who attended the meeting obtained a supply from the
earl, were industriously circulated throughout the country, and dropt
in the streets of the different towns in Scotland during night.
The government was not inattentive to the proceedings of the
Jacobites, and measures were adopted immediately by the Lord Advocate
for securing the chiefs. Under the authority of an act passed on
the 30th of August, a large number of noblemen and gentlemen, of
whom a great proportion belonged to the Highlands, were summoned by
him to appear at Edinburgh within certain specified periods, under
the pain of a year’s imprisonment and other penalties, to give bail
for their allegiance to the government. Among them was Rob Roy. The
time allowed for the appearance of such as resided to the south of
the river Tay, was seven days, to those on the north, fifteen,
and to such as might be out of Scotland, sixty days after the day
of citation. Very few of them however appeared, and the remainder,
almost without exception, rushed at once into the insurrection.
The confederated chiefs had scarcely all of them reached their
respective homes, when they were again summoned by Mar to meet
him at Aboyne, on the 3d of September, to concert measures for
appearing immediately in arms. Some of those who resided only a
short distance from the appointed rendezvous, attended, and having
received instructions to assemble their men, and to join him without
delay, at Kirkmichael, a village in Braemar, they returned to their
estates, and sent round the fiery cross to summon their followers to
the field. With 60 followers only, Mar proclaimed the Chevalier at
Castletown in Braemar, after which he proceeded to Kirkmichael, where
on the 6th of September he raised his standard, which was consecrated
by prayer, in presence, according to some accounts, of a force of
2,000 men, mostly consisting of horse.[685] When the standard was in
the course of being erected, the ball on the top of the pole fell
off, an incident which was regarded by the superstitious Highlanders
as a bad omen, and which threw a damp over the proceedings of the day.
On the following day, Mar intimated by a circular letter to the
gentlemen of Perthshire, his appointment to the chief command of
all King James’s forces in Scotland, and he required them to hold
themselves in readiness to join him with their vassals when called
upon. He also directed them to secure the arms of such persons as
were hostile to the cause of King James, and desired they would
prevent their men from plundering, or living at free quarters, upon
his Majesty’s subjects. “The King,” he observes, “makes no doubt of
your zeal for his service, especially at this juncture when his cause
is so deeply concerned, and the relieving of our native country from
oppression and a foreign yoke, too heavy for us and our posterity to
bear, and when now is the time to endeavour the restoring, not only
our rightful and native king, but also our country to its ancient,
free, and independent constitution under him, whose ancestors have
reigned over us for so many generations.”
Two days thereafter the earl published a high-flown declaration, in
which he summons, “in his Majesty’s name and authority,” and “by
the King’s special order to me thereunto,” all faithful and loving
subjects to raise their fencible men with their best arms, and to
join him at the Inver of Mar on the following Monday, “in order to
proceed in our march to attend the king’s standard with his other
forces. The king intending that his forces shall be paid from the
time of their first setting out, he expects, as he positively orders,
that they behave themselves civilly, and commit no plundering or
other disorders, upon the highest penalties, and his displeasure,
which is expected you’l see observed.”
As a contrast to this high-flown and liberty-sounding document, the
following singular letter, written by the earl to his baillie in the
lordship of Kildrummy, on the evening of the day on which the above
declaration was issued, is curious. It exhibits, in a remarkable
point of view, the despotic power which, even down to such a modern
period, a feudal or rather a Highland chief considered himself
entitled to exercise with impunity over his vassals. Had such an
order been issued by a baron, who had scarcely ever gone beyond
the boundaries of his own demesnes, it might have been passed over
without remark, as in perfect keeping with the ideas of a feudal
despot; but to see the refined courtier threatening his own vassals
and tenants with destruction, and even extermination, merely because
they hesitated to take up arms in opposition to the government under
which they lived, and under which the earl himself had served, is
indeed very extraordinary:--
“INVERCAULD, _Sept. 9, at night, 1715_.
“Jocke,--Ye was in the right not to come with the hundred men
ye sent up to-night, when I expected four times the number. It
is a pretty thing, when all the Highlands of Scotland are now
rising upon their king and country’s account, as I have accounts
from them since they were with me, and the gentlemen of our
neighbouring lowlands expecting us down to join them, that my
men should be only refractory. Is not this the thing we are now
about, which they have been wishing these twenty-six years? And
now, when it is come, and the king and country’s cause is at
stake, will they for ever sit still and see all perish? I have
used gentle means too long, and so I shall be forced to put
other orders I have in execution. I have sent you enclosed an
order for the lordship of Kildrummy, which you are immediately
to intimate to all my vassals: if they give ready obedience,
it will make some amends, and if not ye may tell them from me,
that it will not be in my power to save them (were I willing)
from being treated as enemies, by those who are ready soon to
join me; and they may depend on it, that I will be the first
to propose, and order their being so. Particularly, let my own
tenants in Kildrummy know, that if they come not forth with their
best arms, that I will send a party immediately to burn what they
shall miss taking from them. And they may believe this not only
a threat, but, by all that’s sacred, I’ll put it in execution,
let my loss be what it will, that it may be an example to others.
You are to tell the gentlemen that I’ll expect them in their
best accoutrements, on horseback, and no excuse to be accepted
of. Go about this with all diligence, and come yourself and let
me know your having done so. All this is not only as ye will be
answerable to me, but to your king and country.
“Your assured friend and servant,
“MAR.”
“_To John Forbes of Inverau,
Bailie of Kildrummy._”
While the Jacobite chiefs were collecting their forces, an event
occurred which ought to have induced them to abandon, at least for a
time, an enterprise signalized by such an untoward beginning. This
was the death of Louis XIV., who expired on the 1st of September,
after a short illness. An occurrence more unfortunate to the cause
of the Chevalier could scarcely have happened at such a conjuncture,
as it tended to damp the spirits of his partisans, who looked upon
Louis as the main prop of the cause. On receipt of this intelligence,
the chiefs held a meeting to consult upon the course they ought to
pursue under this new aspect of matters. Some of the more moderate
were for returning home, and remaining quiet till the arrival of
the Chevalier, should he receive any encouragement from the new
government of France to proceed on his intended voyage; but the
majority argued that they had already gone too far to recede with
safety, and that as a general insurrection would take place in
England in favour of the Chevalier, they should take the field
forthwith. An immediate appeal to arms having been resolved upon,
messengers were despatched to France to urge the Chevalier to hasten
his departure, and the following notable manifesto, which had been
privately printed at Edinburgh by Freebairn, one of the king’s
printers, was issued at the same time:--
“Manifesto by the Noblemen, Gentlemen, and others, who dutifully
appear at this time in asserting the undoubted rights of their
lawful sovereign, James the Eighth, by the grace of God, king of
Scotland, England, France, and Ireland, defender of the faith,
&c.; and for relieving this, his ancient kingdom, from the
oppressions and grievances it lies under.
“His majesty’s right of blood to the crowns of these realms is
undoubted, and has never been disputed or arraigned by the least
circumstance or lawful authority. By the laws of God, by the
ancient constitutions, and by the positive unrepealed laws of the
land, we are bound to pay his majesty the duty of loyal subjects.
Nothing can absolve us from this our duty of subjection and
obedience. The laws of God require our allegiance to our rightful
king--the laws of the land secure our religion and other interests;
and his majesty giving up himself to the support of his Protestant
subjects, puts the means of securing to us our concerns, religious
and civil, in our own hands. Our fundamental constitution has been
entirely altered and sunk amidst the various shocks of unstable
faction, while, in searching out new expedients pretended for our
security, it has produced nothing but daily disappointments, and
has brought us and our posterity under a precarious dependence upon
foreign councils and interests, and the power of foreign troops.
The late unhappy union which was brought about by the mistaken
notions of some, and the ruinous and selfish designs of others, has
proved so far from lessening and healing the differences betwixt
his majesty’s subjects of Scotland and England, that it has widened
and increased them. And it appears by experience so inconsistent
with the rights, privileges, and interests of us, and our good
neighbours and fellow-subjects of England, that the continuance
of it must inevitably ruin us, and hurt them; nor can any way be
found out to relieve us, and restore our ancient and independent
constitution, but by the restoring our rightful and natural king,
who has the only undoubted right to reign over us. Neither can
we hope that the party who chiefly contributed to bring us into
bondage, will at any time endeavour to work our relief, since it
is known how strenuously they opposed, in two late instances, the
efforts that were made by all Scotsmen by themselves, and supported
by the best and wisest of the English, towards so desirable an end,
as they will not adventure openly to disown the dissolution of the
union to be. Our substance has been wasted in the late ruinous
wars, and we see an unavoidable prospect of having wars continued
on us and our posterity so long as the possession of the crown
is not in the right line. The hereditary rights of the subjects,
though confirmed by conventions and parliaments, are now treated
as of no value or force, and past services to the crown and royal
family are now looked upon as grounds of suspicion. A packed up
assembly, who call themselves a British parliament, have, so far
as in them lies, inhumanely murdered their own and our sovereign,
by promising a good sum of money as the reward of so execrable
a crime. They have proscribed, by unaccountable and groundless
impeachments and attainders, the worthy patriots of England, for
their honourable and successful endeavours to restore trade,
plenty, and peace to these nations.
“They have broken in upon the sacred laws of both countries by
which the liberty of our persons was secured, and they have
empowered a foreign prince, (who, notwithstanding his expectations
of the crown for fifteen years, is still unacquainted with our
manners, customs, and language,) to make an absolute conquest (if
not timely prevented) of the three kingdoms, by investing himself
with an unlimited power, not only of raising unnecessary forces at
home, but also of calling in foreign troops, ready to promote his
uncontrollable designs. Nor can we be ever hopeful of its being
otherwise, in the way it is at present, for some generations to
come. And the sad consequences of these unexampled proceedings have
really been so fatal to great numbers of our kinsmen, friends, and
fellow-subjects of both kingdoms, that they have been constrained
to abandon their country, houses, wives and children, to give
themselves up prisoners, and perhaps victims, to be sacrificed to
the pleasure of foreigners, and a few hot-headed men of a restless
faction, whom they employ. Our troops abroad, notwithstanding their
long and remarkable good services, have been treated, since the
peace, with neglect and contempt, and particularly in Holland; and
it is not now the officers’ long service, merit, and blood they
have lost, but money and favour by which they can obtain justice
in their preferments. So that it is evident the safety of his
majesty’s person, and independency of his kingdoms, call loudly for
immediate relief and defence.
“The consideration of these unhappy circumstances, with the due
regard we have to common justice, the peace and quiet of us and
our posterity, and our duty to his majesty, and his commands,
are the powerful motives which have engaged us in our present
undertaking, which we are firmly and heartily resolved to push to
the utmost, and stand by one another to the last extremity, as the
only solid and effectual means for putting an end to so dreadful a
prospect, as by our present situation we have before our eyes, and
with faithful hearts true to our rightful king, our country, and
our neighbours, we earnestly beseech and expect, as his majesty
commands, the assistance of all our true fellow-subjects to second
our attempt; declaring hereby our sincere intentions that we will
promote and concur in all lawful means for settling a lasting peace
to these lands, under the auspicious government of our native-born
rightful sovereign, the direction of our own domestic councils, and
the protection of our native forces and troops. That we will in the
same manner concur and endeavour to have our laws, liberties, and
properties, secured by the parliaments of both kingdoms; that by
the wisdom of such parliaments we will endeavour to have such laws
enacted as shall give absolute security to us, and future ages, for
the Protestant religion, against all efforts of arbitrary power,
popery, and all its other enemies.
“Nor have we any reason to be distrustful of the goodness of God,
the truth and purity of our holy religion, or the known excellency
of his majesty’s judgment, as not to hope, that in due time, good
examples and conversation with our learned divines, will remove
those prejudices, which we know his education in a Popish country
has not riveted in his royal discerning mind; and we are sure, as
justice is a virtue in all religions and professions, so the doing
of it to him will not lessen his good opinion of ours. That as the
king is willing to give his royal indemnity for all that is past,
so he will cheerfully concur in passing general acts of oblivion,
that our fellow-subjects, who have been misled, may have a fair
opportunity of living with us in the same friendly manner that
we design to live with them. That we will use our endeavours for
redressing the bad usage of our troops abroad, and bringing the
troops at home on the same footing and establishment of pay, as
those of England. That we will sincerely and heartily go into such
measures as shall maintain effectually, and establish, a right,
firm, and lasting union betwixt his majesty’s ancient kingdom
of Scotland, and our good neighbours and fellow-subjects of the
kingdom of England.
“The peace of these nations being thus settled and we freed from
foreign dangers, we will use our endeavours to have the army
reduced to the usual number of guards and garrisons; and will
concur in such laws and methods, as shall relieve us of the
heavy taxes and debts now lying upon us, and at the same time,
will support the public credit in all its parts. And we hereby
faithfully promise and engage that every officer who joins with us
in our king and country’s cause shall not only enjoy the same post
he now does, but shall be advanced and preferred according to his
rank and station and the number of men he brings off with him to
us. And each foot soldier so joining us shall have twenty shillings
sterling, and each trooper or dragoon, who brings horse and
accoutrements along with him, £12 sterling gratuity, besides their
pay; and in general we shall concur with all our fellow subjects in
such measures as shall make us flourish at home, and be formidable
abroad, under our rightful sovereign, and the peaceable harmony of
our ancient fundamental constitution, undisturbed by a pretender’s
interests and councils from abroad, or a restless faction at home.
In so honourable, so good, and just a cause, we do not doubt of the
assistance, direction, and blessing of Almighty God, who has so
often succoured the royal family of Stuarts, and our country from
sinking under oppression.”
A document better calculated to arouse the national feeling could
not have been penned. Every topic which could excite a spirit of
disaffection against the government then existing is artfully
introduced, and enforced with an energy of diction and an apparent
strength of reasoning admirably fitted for exciting the spirit of a
people living, as they imagined, in a state of national degradation.
But this manifesto which, a few years before, would have set the
whole of Scotland in a flame, produced little or no effect in those
quarters where alone it was necessary to make such an appeal.
FOOTNOTES:
[674] Rae’s _History of the late Rebellion_. Dumfries, 1718, p. 63.
[675] _Culloden Papers_, pp. 30, 31.
[676] Rae, p. 77.
[677] _Gazette_, 25th September, 1714.
[678] This document, which was signed by the chief of Maclean,
Macdonell of Glengarry, Cameron of Lochiel, Macdonell of Keppoch, Sir
Donald Macdonald, Mackintosh of Mackintosh, Mackenzie of Fraserdale,
M’Leod of Contulick, Grant of Glenmoriston, Chisholm of Comer, and
M’Pherson of Cluny, is as follows:--
“My Lord,
“So soon as we heard of the afflicting news of the death of
her late majesty, Queen Anne, it did exceedingly comfort us,
that, after so good and great a queen, who had the hearts and
consulted the true happiness of all her people, we were to be
governed by his sacred majesty, King George, a prince so brightly
adorned with all royal virtues, that Britain, under his royal
administration, shall still be flourishing at home, and able to
hold the balance in the affairs of Europe.[679] Allow us, my
Lord, to please ourselves with this agreeable persuasion, that
his majesty’s royal and kindly influence shall reach to us, who
are the most remote, as well as to others of his subjects in this
island. We are not ignorant that there are some people forward
to misrepresent us, from particular private views of their own,
and who, to reach their own ends against us, on all occasions,
endeavour to make us, in the Highlands of Scotland, pass for
disaffected persons.
“Your lordship has an estate and interest in the Highlands, and
is so well known to bear good-will to your neighbours, that
in order to prevent any ill impressions which malicious and
ill-designing people may at this juncture labour to give of us,
we must beg leave to address your lordship, and entreat you to
assure the government, in our names, and in that of the rest of
the clans, who, by distance of place, could not be present at the
signing of this letter, of our loyalty to his sacred majesty,
King George. And we do hereby declare to your lordship, that as
we were always ready to follow your directions in serving Queen
Anne, so we will now be equally forward to concur with your
lordship in faithfully serving King George. And we entreat your
lordship would advise as how we may best offer our duty to his
majesty upon his coming over to Britain; and on all occasions we
will beg to receive your counsel and direction how we may be most
useful to his royal government.
“We are, with all truth and respect,” &c.
[679] There is little difficulty in perceiving, by comparing
this letter with that written by Mar to the king, that it is the
production of Mar himself, though said to be drawn up by his brother,
Lord Grange. “The balance in the affairs of Europe,” an expression
since changed into that of the “balance of power,” is a phrase which
could have occurred only to a secretary of state. What calamities
have been inflicted upon Europe since the sway of the _Grand
Monarque_ in attempts to adjust “this balance,” and yet the scales
vibrate as much as ever!
[680] _Lockhart Papers_, vol. i. pp. 485-6.
[681] Lockhart, vol. i. p. 436.
[682] Idem.
[683] Rae, 188. _Annals of King George_, year the second, London,
1717, p. 25.
[684] Rae, p. 189. _Annals of King George_, pp. 15, 16.
[685] _Annals of 2d Year of George I._, p. 28.