Volume I Part 4 (1/2)
'Like the race of leaves The race ofany other breath; the wind in autu the woods with new endowes,'
”yet I have ever thought the knowledge of kindred and genealogies of the ancient families of a country a hest praise Herein consisteth a part of the knowledge of a reat spurr to vertue to look back on the worth of our line In this is theknow that band which tyeth theuished from the reasonless creatures, and the noble of h we cannot tell how) for the e”[81] The two members of the Dru-field were James Earl of Perth, and William Drummond, Viscount Strathallan
The Earls of Southesk and Carnwath, the Viscounts Kenmure and Stormont, and the Lord Rollo, complete the list of Scottish peers ere present on this memorable occasion But perhaps the -entlehlands, men of sway and ie of Highland manners, to form an adequate notion The constitution of the clans is thus pourtrayed by one who kneell
”In every narrow vale where a blue stream bent its narrow course, some hunter of superior prowess, or some herdsman ealth had led to wealth and power to poas the founder of a little community who ever after looked up to the head of the family as their leader and their chief Those chains of s of their separate districts had then their ascents covered with forests, which were the scene of their hunting-excursions: when their eagerness in pursuit of game led them to penetrate into the districts clai valleys, a rash encounter was the usual consequence, which laid the foundation of future hostilities”[82]
These petty wars gave room for a display of valour in the chiefs, and led to a mutual dependence from the followers Alliances offensive and defensive were fores were contracted between the confederated clans, who governed their followers by a kind of polity not ill regulated The chief had the power of life and death over his large faht be cruel to his enemies, but never to his friends Nor were those paternal rulers by any means so despotic as they have been represented to be; of allallowed to take no step without permission of their friends, or the elders of their tribe, including the most distant branches of their family The kind and conciliatory system adopted towards their clansmen accounts for the warm attachment and fidelity displayed towards their chiefs; and these sentis and traditions of the bards, in which the exploits of their heroes were perpetuated Still there is nothing, as it has been justly said, so remarkable in the political history of any country, as the succession of the Highland chiefs, and the long and uninterrupted shich they held over their followers[83] The systeives all the romantic interest which the Rebellions of 1715 and 1745 inspire;--it perfects a picture which would only otherwise be a factious contention for power; it was annihilated only after the last of the Stuarts had fled for ever from the mountains of Scotland
It was at the head of the clans that the Earl of Mar frequently placed himself, at the battle of Sherriff Muir: he noelco these were General Haary, Campbell of Glendarvel, and the lairds of Auchterhouse and Aldebar
So great an assembly of those whos,” was by nothe lords and chieftains in the Highlands to invite their neighbours and vassals to a general rendezvous to chase the deer upon the mountains, and after the diversion was over, to entertain the persons of note in the castle hall This expedient would, therefore, have excited but little attention, had it not been for several years the practice of the Jacobites to hold these hunting-parties annually, in order to maintain the spirit of the association, which had been carried on since the peace of Utrecht
The halls of Kildrummie received the noblemen and chieftains that day beneath its roof, and the Earl of Mar addressed his guests in a long, pre little pretension to eloquence; but his hearers were probably not very fastidious judges, and from the influence which the Earl acquired over those whom he led on to the contest, it may be inferred that he understood well how to address hihland audience
At first the Earl was heard with distrust,--at least if we reat a reliance has been placed[84]
”It is true, that at first,” says Mr Patten, ”he gained little or no credit a some piece of policy in hih to suck in the poison, and particularly some of those ith hi to hied by oath to stand by hi over their friends and dependants to do the like”[85]
The Earl began his harangue by expressing a deep regret for having promoted the Union, which had delivered his countrylish, whose power to enslave thereat, and whose intentions to do so still further were s of the Elector of Hanover ever since he ascended the throne That Prince regarded, according to Lord Mar, neither the welfare of his people, nor their religion, but solely left the ement of affairs to a set of men who made encroachments in Church and State Many persons, he said, were now resolved to consult their own safety, and determined to defend their liberties and properties, and to establish on the throne of these realht to the Croould hear their grievances, and redress their wrongs He then incited his hearers to take ar James the Seventh; and told them, that for his part, he was determined to set up his standard and to summon all the fencible men of his own tenants, and with them to hazard his life in the cause To this declaration he added the assurance, that a general rising in England and assistance fro; that thousands were in league and covenant with hie
To these inducements were added others Letters fro to come over in person; with assurances that shi+ps, arms, and ammunition would be dispatched to their aid[86]
The proposals of Lord Mar were unfolded with such address, and his popularity was at that tiht have supposed an immediate assent to his scheree of persuasion was required: the Highlanders are slow to pro back from a too ready consent, never deserted the cause which they once undertook
The universal fidelity to the part which they espoused was violated in no instance during the first Rebellion
At length the assembled chiefs swore an oath to stand by the Earl of Mar, and to bring their friends and dependants to do the sa was at that time determined upon: every man went back to his own estate, to takefro his own people with few attendants But the Jacobites were not idle during that interval They e their servants and kindred, but with the ut was ready to break out Nor were they long kept in suspense On the third of Septe at Abbone, in Aberdeenshi+re, was held, and there the Earl directed his adherents to collect their men without loss of tiathering the people together, until they ah some have said that there were only sixty followers at that time assembled[87]
On the sixth of September, the standard of the Pretender was set up at Braemar, by the Earl of Mar, in the presence of the assehlanders remarked with dismay, that, as the standard was erected, the ball on the top of it fell off; and they regarded this accident as an ill omen ”The event,” says a quaint Scottish writer, ”has proven that it was no less”[88]
This grave accordance in the verification of the omen, was a feature of the times and country ”When a clan went upon any expedition,” observes Dr Brown in his valuable work upon the Highlands, ”they were much addicted to oood was portended If they observed a deer, fox, hare, or any four-footed beast of ganosticated evil If a woman, barefooted, crossed the road before them, they seized her, and drew blood from her forehead” Thisreal ones, of credulity and distrust, strength and weakness, presents a singular view of the Highland character It had, however, in many respects, no inconsiderable influence upon the contests of 1715 and 1745
From Braemar the Earl proceeded to Kirk Michael, a small tohere he proclaimed the Chevalier, and set up his standard He then marched to Moulin in Perthshi+re, where he rested so his forces
It is a remarkable fact, that up to this period the Earl of Mar was acting without a commission from the Chevalier The disposition which is too predominant in society, and which leads men always to add the bitterness of invective to the mortification of failure, has attributed to the Earl of Mar, relatively to this coreeable to be able to clear hisin Braemar, that Lord Mar discovered that there hat he called ”a devil” in his camp, in the person of the Master of Sinclair, whose manuscript strictures upon the unfortunate and incompetent leader of the Jacobites have contributed to blacken histo the Master of Sinclair, the Earl of Mar produced at the ed commission; but this statement is not only contradicted by Lord Mar's own account, but completely invalidated by the fact that the co various other curious documents and letters, many of which place the character of Lord Mar in a ht than that in which it has hitherto been viewed The Earl of Mar, in a justification of his conduct, printed at Paris, and added to Patten's History of the Rebellion, gives the following account of the affair:
”It was near a month after the Earl of Mar[89] set up the Standard before he could produce a commission, and it is no sreat a number followed his advice and obeyed his orders before he could produce one It h, be owned, and it is the less to be wondered at, that his authority being thus precarious, so him, and others performed not so effectually the service they were sent upon, which, had they done, not only Scotland, but even part of England, had been reduced to the Chevalier's obedience, before the Governainst us”[90]
The coh it had not been sent over to Scotland It is dated the seventh of September, 1715, and is superscribed James R[91] The Earl of Mar was doubtless aware that such an instrument was in preparation
When the Earl had first arrived in Scotland, he found, as he hier to take arms than his instructions allowed him to permit; but before actual steps were commenced, that ardour was cooled by two circuland, as the Jacobites had confidently hoped; and, secondly, by the Duke of Berwick's not coorous reater impression on the public mind than could have been expected had the Earl of Mar been boldly seconded by him as most of all interested in the event of the contest The Lord Advocate suh within specified periods, in order to give bail to Governiance ”Many,” says Lord Mar, ”seemed inclined to comply” Yet the number of those who did co the most honoured names in Scotland, rushed into the insurrection The different heads of noble houses dispersed, and each in the district in which he had most power, and in the principal towns proclaihout the country, with blood at one end, and fire at the other; and it was afterwards asserted by some of the rebels ere tried at Liverpool, that they were forced into the service of the Chevalier, the person who bore that cross assuring them that, unless they hastened to Mar's caence of the death of Louis the Fourteenth, which had happened during the preceding August, reached Scotland at this tiloom over his party It was even disputed whether the Jacobite leaders should not disperse until news of the Chevalier's landing should reassure theour to their proceedings At this critical moment Lord Mar published a declaration which has been printed inall those ell-affected to the good cause to put the his confederates to the Tower of Brae the, their pay fro out
”Now is the tiood men to show their zeal for his Majesty's service, whose cause is so deeply concerned, and the relief of our native country fron yoke too heavy for us and our posterity to bear
”In so honourable, good, and just a cause,” he added, ”we cannot doubt of the assistance, direction, and blessing of Alhty God, who has so often rescued the royal fa under oppression