Chapter XX: March to July, 1689 (3)

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.