8

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[1715. my own tenants in Kildrummie know, that if they come not forth with their best arms, I will send a party immediately to burn what they shall miss taking from them. And they may believe this 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 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."*

The tenants upon whom Mar desired to enforce this obedience to his arbitrary will, were not under the absolute command of a chief as were the Highland clans. They are described as people of a Lowland origin, who spoke the English language with the northern accent.† A more unlimited authority was exercised over their Highlanders by the marquis of Tullibardine, the eldest son of the duke of Athol; by the marquis of Huntly, the eldest son of the duke of Gordon; by the earl of Panmure; by the earl of Southesk; and by many lesser chieftains, under whose command the white cockade was speedily worn by their devoted vassals. The great soldier and statesman, John, duke of Argyle-the Mac Callum Mhor, under whose command thousands of Celtic followers would fight either for king James or king George-was the staunch supporter of the Hanoverian succession, and to him was confided the command of the government forces in Scotland. The general body of Presbyterians soon saw that, although they might clamour against the Union and the Whig ministers, there was no alliance for them with the Roman Catholic and the Episcopalian supporters of king James. There was many a discontented laird like the Master of Sinclair, who "had an innate zeal and affection for all the remains of the old royal family of Scotland;" and had a great contempt for the "wretches of a mushroom growth," who had been thriving upon the improving industry of the country, "and thereby put themselves upon a level with those whose vassals they were not long before." The people, properly so called, had no participation in the rising of 1715. Wherever there was wealth, the fruit of industrious labour-as in the country south of the Forth and the Clyde-Jacobitism had no strong hold. From the Highlands, with the exception of a few districts, the discontented chieftains could carry a large following to the field. In the northern counties of England, there were many Jacobites and Papists; but the rebel leaders of Scotland were wofully deceived in the expectation from them of any important aid. According to sir Walter Scott "the handful of Northumberland fox-hunters seem never to have had any serious thoughts of fighting, and soon sickened of it." §

At the moment when Mar raised the standard of revolt in Scotland, the news arrived of the death of Louis XIV. The great monarch died on the 1st of September. Bolingbroke, who as long as the king lived was sanguine of engaging the aid of France in the restoration of the Stuart

§ Introductory Notice to the Memoirs of the Master of Sinclair, p. xvi.

1715.]

INSURRECTION IN SCOTLAND.

family, wrote to his friend sir William Wyndham, "my hopes sunk as he declined, and died when he expired." The Scottish Jacobites affected to make light of the loss of this consistent supporter of their cause. One of them said to the Master of Sinclair, "a young prince, such as the Regent, would push our affair with more vigour than the old king, who was halfdoated." The Regent duke of Orleans was more politic than to quarrel with the English government, and he not only rendered no assistance, but intercepted the military stores provided for the insurgents at the expense of the Chevalier St. George. The "honest men," as the Jacobites named their party, were left to their own resources. Some of their first movements were successful. Others as signally failed. They were defeated in a bold attempt to seize the castle of Edinburgh, on the 9th of September. Lord Drummond had concerted this enterprise with ninety gentlemen, according to one authority; with fifty young apprentices, advocates' servants, writers, and some servants of the government, according to the Master of Sinclair. They had corrupted a serjeant, a corporal, and two sentinels of the garrison. The sentinel on duty was to draw up a scaling-ladder; and the operation was being performed, when the ladder was found too short. In this dilemma, they lingered and hesitated till the patrol approached to relieve the sentinel; when he threw down the grappling-iron, fired his piece, and shouted "enemy." The conspirators escaped as well as they could; but four or five were secured by the civil authorities, as they leapt down from the lower shelf of the rock. The Master of Sinclair, who had joined the insurgents in spite of his doubts of their prudence and his contempt of their leader, set out from the camp at Perth at the head of four hundred horsemen, each with a trooper behind him; and having marched through Fife with great expedition, succeeded in boarding a government vessel laden with arms that was at anchor near Burntisland. They thus obtained the means of arming four hundred rebels, and returned unmolested to the head-quarters at Perth, where Mar had now about twelve thousand men under his command. As usual with the Highland chieftains, some were quarrelling about the post of honour, and all were waiting the opportunity for some lucky undertaking, and neglecting the means of their own safety. The Master of Sinclair says, "Mar, after coming into Perth, did nothing all this while but write; and, as if all had depended on his writing, nobody moved in any one thing. There was not a word spoke of fortifying the town, nor the least care taken of sending for powder to any place. We did not want gunsmiths; and yet none of them were employed in mending our old arms. Whoever spoke of these things, which I did often, was giving himself airs; for we lived very well; and as long as meat, drink, and money was not wanting, what was the need of any more?" The leaders in this strange insurrection seemed to believe that the mere announcement of their intentions to place James on the throne, coupled with their implicit reliance on Mar's assurance that their king was coming with irresistible aid from France, would suffice for their triumph in Scotland, whilst the advance of some of their forces into England would at once drive the elector of Hanover from his usurped power.

At the beginning of October, the duke of Argyle was at Stirling, with

10

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[1715.

about fifteen hundred regular troops. Small as this army was, the position of Argyle was such that Mar could not venture an attempt to force a passage, if he desired to move southward to assist a rising on the English border. Nor could he venture with his main body to cross the Frith of Forth, for a large naval force was cruising on that coast. Moreover, Mar, if these impediments could have been overcome, could not safely move his whole army; for he had received letters from Bolingbroke stating "that in all probability the king would land very quickly in the north of Scotland." It was therefore determined to send a large detachment of the rebel force to the aid of the southern insurgents; whilst the main army remained at Perth to await their expected royal leader. This determination was executed with skill and boldness. Two thousand five hundred men marched under the command of brigadier Mac Intosh, an experienced soldier, towards the coast of Fife, where a number of boats had been collected in various small harbours. To divert the English cruisers, an appearance of bustle in preparing craft was made in the neighbourhood of Burntisland; whilst an embarkation of troops took place at Craile, Anstruther, and other small places, where the estuary was broadest, and a passage in open boats would be considered hazardous. On the night of the 2nd of October sixteen hundred men were thus carried across to landing-places on the southern coast of the Forth, near North Berwick. Another detachment, which sailed later, was not so successful; for the government vessels were then on the alert, and a portion of the troops had to return to the Fife coast, whilst three hundred landed on the Isle of May, having been chased thither by ships of war. These men, under the leadership of lord William Murray, sustained great privations, having been blockaded on the island by the government vessels. The Master of Sinclair, who seldom indulges in panegyric, pays a tribute to the heroism of this fourth son of the duke of Athol,-" the school-boy" who kept his men together, and refused himself to leave the island, till he had brought them all safely off. Mac Intosh and his little army were tempted to depart from the instructions of Mar to go "on south, to meet our friends who are in arms there," so as to be out of Argyle's reach before he could come up with them. They resolved, on the contrary, to attack Edinburgh before Argyle could be there to defend it. But the delay of a day in their western march afforded time to the civic authorities to summon the duke from Stirling; and he was at Edinburgh with five hundred horse, as the foot soldiers of Mac Intosh arrived. They found no supporters waiting for them in arms; and they marched to Leith, which town they entered without resistance; and then posted themselves in the remains of the citadel, built by Cromwell, but demolished at the Restoration. Here, having seized some cannon and ammunition from vessels in the harbour, they were enabled to show so firm an attitude, that Argyle, having no artillery, thought it imprudent to attack them. After having held Leith for two days, the insurgents, on the night of the 15th, marched at the lowest ebb of the tide, along the sands beyond Musselburgh; and they reached Seton House, the castellated mansion of the earl of Winton, early in the morning of the 16th. Here they remained safely till the 19th; for Argyle had hurried back to Stirling, on receiving intelligence that Mar's army was moving southward. The movement of Mar was a judicious feint to avert the attack that would probably have been fatal to the band of Mac Intosh.

1715.]

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11

The march of these Highlanders to the south of Scotland, and onward to Preston, has been minutely described by one who deserted their cause and gave testimony against his confederates, but whose narrative is full of those

curious details which personal observation can alone supply.* On the first day of their march they reached Longformachus. On the 2nd day, at Dunse, they proclaimed king James, the Highlanders being drawn up in order of battle. On arriving at Kelso, on the 22nd, they were met, according to appointment, by a body of horsemen from the south of Scotland, and of Northumbrians. The Scots were under the command of lord Kenmure; the English under that of Mr. Forster. These leaders were chosen as being Protestants, to counteract the prevailing opinion that this was a Roman Catholic insurrection. The number of the English did not exceed three hundred. Having crossed the deep and rapid Tweed, they entered the town; and the Highlanders soon joined them from the Scottish side, "with their bag-pipes playing, led by old Mac Intosh; but they made a very indifferent figure; for the rain and their long marches had extremely fatigued them, though their old brigadier, who marched at the head of them, appeared very well." Amongst the English was lord Derwentwater, who, with many friends, and all his servants, "mounted, some upon his coach-horses, and

"The History of the late Rebellion, &c. By the Rev. Mr. Robert Patten, formerly chaplain to Mr. Forster." 2d edit., 1717. + Patten, p. 39,

10

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[1715.

about fifteen hundred regular troops. Small as this army was, the position of Argyle was such that Mar could not venture an attempt to force a passage, if he desired to move southward to assist a rising on the English border. Nor could he venture with his main body to cross the Frith of Forth, for a large naval force was cruising on that coast. Moreover, Mar, if these impediments could have been overcome, could not safely move his whole army; for he had received letters from Bolingbroke stating "that in all probability the king would land very quickly in the north of Scotland." It was therefore determined to send a large detachment of the rebel force to the aid of the southern insurgents; whilst the main army remained at Perth to await their expected royal leader. This determination was executed with skill and boldness. Two thousand five hundred men marched under the command of brigadier Mac Intosh, an experienced soldier, towards the coast of Fife, where a number of boats had been collected in various small harbours. To divert the English cruisers, an appearance of bustle in preparing craft was made in the neighbourhood of Burntisland; whilst an embarkation of troops took place at Craile, Anstruther, and other small places, where the estuary was broadest, and a passage in open boats would be considered hazardous. On the night of the 2nd of October sixteen hundred men were thus carried across to landing-places on the southern coast of the Forth, near North Berwick. Another detachment, which sailed later, was not so successful; for the government vessels were then on the alert, and a portion of the troops had to return to the Fife coast, whilst three hundred landed on the Isle of May, having been chased thither by ships of war. These men, under the leadership of lord William Murray, sustained great privations, having been blockaded on the island by the government vessels. The Master of Sinclair, who seldom indulges in panegyric, pays a tribute to the heroism of this fourth son of the duke of Athol,-"the school-boy" who kept his men together, and refused himself to leave the island, till he had brought them all safely off. Mac Intosh and his little army were tempted to depart from the instructions of Mar to go "on south, to meet our friends who are in arms there," so as to be out of Argyle's reach before he could come up with them. They resolved, on the contrary, to attack Edinburgh before Argyle could be there to defend it. But the delay of a day in their western march afforded time to the civic authorities to summon the duke from Stirling; and he was at Edinburgh with five hundred horse, as the foot soldiers of Mac Intosh arrived. They found no supporters waiting for them in arms; and they marched to Leith, which town they entered without resistance; and then posted themselves in the remains of the citadel, built by Cromwell, but demolished at the Restoration. Here, having seized some cannon and ammunition from vessels in the harbour, they were enabled to show so firm an attitude, that Argyle, having no artillery, thought it imprudent to attack them. After having held Leith for two days, the insurgents, on the night of the 15th, marched at the lowest ebb of the tide, along the sands beyond Musselburgh; and they reached Seton House, the castellated mansion of the earl of Winton, early in the morning of the 16th. Here they remained safely till the 19th; for Argyle had hurried back to Stirling, on receiving intelligence that Mar's army was moving southward. The movement of Mar was a judicious feint to avert the attack that would probably have been fatal to the band of Mac Intosh.